Unexpected Love
by Mrs.EdwardCullenx3
Summary: AH AU When a shy and lonely Bella moves to Seattle to finish high school, she meets and becomes friends with the Cullens and the Hales. When she lies her eyes on Edward, how will her life change? summary is bad - please read!
1. Hello Seattle

I took a deep breath as I fumbled off to my new school.

Welcome to Seattle High School the large sign in front of the building read.

My classes were much the same. Some introduced me to the class, while other's spared me the embarrassment and just sent me to a seat. But many of the boys I passed had strange look on their face. I just shrugged it off. Then the bell rang for lunch.

I entered the lunch room for the first time to see the large body of students each gathered into their own cliques. After quickly scanning the room looking for a place to sit, I decided getting my lunch should be my first step. I walked over to the line, my eyes grazing over the unappealing food. _Ew_ I thought picking up today's special.

"You don't want to eat that. Trust me," a bright, bubbly voice came from behind. I turned my head finding a short girl with spiked black hair contrasting her ivory skin.

"Um..thanks," I quickly dropped the plate back down.

"Your Isabella Swan, right?," she asked.

I nodded my head with a questioning look on my face, "That's me." How did she know my name?

As if she read my mind she cleared up my curiosity, " I'm in your History class - with Mr. Frank."

"Oh, right," I smiled.

"Sorry! I totally forgot to introduce myself!," she laughed, "I'm Alice. Alice Cullen."

I grinned, her personality reflecting on to me, "Nice to meet you Alice."

"So, Isabella, how-"

I interrupted her, "Just call me Bella."

She smiled wider, "Bella. How's your first day at Seattle High?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Yeah, not really the most exciting thing ever, is it?," she laughed.

I picked up an clean red apple, "Not exactly," I said, chuckling.

"Don't worry, your not alone."

"Hey Alice," said a blonde girl that -could easily pass as a super model- walked up to us.

"Rose! There you are," Alice replied taking her hand and dragging her so she was right next to me, "meet Bella, she just transferred from..."

"Arizona. Hi," I said timidly to the girl.

She smiled showing her perfect teeth, "I'm Rosalie, it's nice to meet you."

Once we gathered our lunches Alice came up with an idea, "Oh Bella, why don't you come sit with us today?!"

Figuring sitting with them was better than alone, I quickly accepted the invitation. We walked to the back of the room to a table that was occupied by two boys. Alice and Rosalie sat down beside the boys - Rosalie giving the tall, dark haired, and very muscular boy a kiss.

"Jasper, Emmett, this is Bella. She's new to the school!," Alice introduced me acting as if being new to the school was the coolest thing ever.

I smiled shyly at the boys sitting down across from the two couples. They were all really nice and funny. To my surprise I found myself smiling and laughing. Back in Phoenix, I didn't have many friends so this was a real turning point for me to be actually enjoying myself. Weird, I thought.

When the lunch bell rang I got up and looked at my schedule to see my next class. Biology with Mr. Banner. "Where's your next class Bella?" Alice asked.

I displayed my schedule to her, "Oh! It's right down that hall to your left...I would walk you but my class is the other way."

"It's okay, I can find it, thanks. Alice..." I started.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For lunch I mean - I had a great time." I was happy to find the truth in my own words and smiled.

Alice beamed, "Of course Bella! I know what it feels like to be new, and I had a fun too."

We said our goodbyes and we walked into our separate directions.

I made it into Biology with three minutes to spare. The teacher seemed nice and he told me I was free to sit in any spot that was open. I looked around the room to find an empty lab table. The bell rang and the teacher started to explain our lesson for today. Towards the end of class he announced there is going to be a lab tomorrow. "Does everyone have a partner?" he asked us.

The other students nodded their head and he looked at me, "Oh, Isabella, your partner will be...Edward. He isn't here today but he sits right here," he said placing his hand on the space next to me, "but, it looks like Edward will be out for a week or so. Well I don't want you to be alone, so until he comes back, you can be with Mike and Eric."

He pointed to a table diagonally to me, I turned my head to see two boys with the same strange look - small smiles and intent eyes. I blushed at the attention I held.

My sixth period was much the same. Boring.

I walked out to the parking lot looking for my truck when I saw a brilliant flash of red. I focused on the sleek car. Then I saw Alice and the others walking towards the convertible.

"Bella!," she called, signaling me over. I walked to them (and their BMW). "Hey! How was fifth and sixth?"

I shrugged, "Okay I guess. Pretty boring."

"Tell me about it!" she agreed. Just then Rose walked over to join us.

"Ready Alice? Hi Bella!," she said.

"Well I guess we better get going - did I give you my number?"

"No-," I began.

"Well now that were friends you have to have our numbers!," Alice already took out her cell phone and got my number. I got out mine as well so Alice and Rosalie could give me their numbers.

We parted for the last time today. They jumped into the red car and I made it into my old truck. On the drive home I thought about my day. Especially what Alice had said, _Well now that were friends you have to have our numbers!_

I cut the engine and walked into my new home to find Renee still unpacking our things.

"Hey honey! How was your day!?," curiosity filled in her voice.

I thought about that for a moment, as I pondered back to Alice's statement. _Friends. _I smiled, "it wasn't that bad. There are some really nice people." Although some of the boys had a weird look on their face when ever they saw me.

"That's great Bells!"

"Yeah, it is," I said walking up the stairs. I entered my new room and plopped myself down on the bed, just thinking. I finished my homework assignments and stared at my plain room thinking of what decorations I should add. When nothing came to mind I decided it was time to go to bed.

Once I was ready and climbing into my bed, my phone went off.

I looked at the text and saw it was sent by Alice. I flipped it open and read the message.

_Hey Bella! I hope you had a great first day! It was so much fun hanging with you! See you tomorrow! - Alice 3_

I smiled at Alice's never-ending excitement. Then I closed my eyes and lied down in my bed.

_Friends._


	2. Girl's Night In

**Sorry! I totally updated this a couple days ago but for some reason it didn't post it...well here it is :)**

**Hey guys! Thanks so much the all the reviews so far! I'm not that fond of the first chapter...but I wrote this story because I just love human stories with Edward and Bella! With some stories I read I felt they didn't go in depth some of- what I think are -really important and supposed to be memorable parts! So I really am excited to write the rest of it...I have it all planned out!!!!**

**I realized that I had not really made it clear why Bella moved to Seattle, so here is the back story- **

**Bella and her parents lived in Phoenix and then Charlie got a job in Seattle so they decided to move there...(also Bella wasn't popular AT ALL in Phoenix and Charlie and Renee are together as of now) **

**Also I apologize ahead for skipping through the early stages of Alice, Rose, and Bella's friendship...but just imagine them being really close :)**

After my first day, the next few where much the same. Which was good, they were happy and fun-filled since I spent them with Alice and Rose.

Much to my surprise, the three of us became pretty much inseparable. Although we were very different, we got along great and made a great balance. On my first Friday in Seattle they invited me to a 'girls night' at Alice's house.

"You have to come Bella! It's going to be so much fun! Just us girls!," Alice asked, hopeful.

"Of course I'll come! It's not like I have anything better to do," I smiled.

She was practically jumping with joy, I still didn't get why she got so excited about everything. I shook my head, laughing, "Okay Bella, can you be at my house at 6?"

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you tonight. Bye," We hugged goodbye until tonight. I had to admit, I was pretty excited, as embarrassing as it is, I've never had as close friends as I already was with Alice and Rose.

6 o'clock didn't come fast enough. I was waiting in my room, busying myself with reading Romeo and Juliet...again. When I finished Act I, the clock read 5:57. I jumped off my bed, grabbing my purse. I raced down the stairs -catching myself before falling- and gave Renee a quick kiss on the cheek and waving back to Charlie.

"Love you - bye!," I yelled just before I slammed the door.

I drove to the Cullen's for the first time, I pulled onto their street, looking for the address Alice gave me. At the very end of the street was a massive house. I looked down at the address once more then back up at the beige building. The numbers matched. Wow.

As I stared at the largeness the door opened and I saw Alice and Rosalie come out. Alice ran to my side as I got out of the truck. "Bella!," she cried as she hugged me.

I laughed, "Hey Alice, hi Rose."

"Come on Bella, lets got started on our girls night!," Rose said and Alice tugged on my hand and pulled my into the house.

The inside was just as amazing as the exterior. It had an old-fashion theme to it but still very sophisticated and elegant.

We were all in Alice's room now, they were getting out 'girl stuff' and I took this time to fathom the pink and the princess theme in her room. It wasn't what I would have picked out myself, but it definitely suited Alice. The walls covered in a pastel pink matched her queen sized bed with a hot pink comforter inscribed with small designs. The rest of the furniture was much the same but not as bright, though it fit well perfectly. Pure Alice-ness.

There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Cullen's face peered through. "Hello, Bella, I just wanted to bring you girls some snacks," she said in her sweet motherly tone.

She walked in and set the tray of snacks on the table, "Thanks Mrs. Cullen."

"Oh please Bella, call me Esme."

I smiled at her warmth then Alice and Rose came back in, "Hey mom," she said then saw the table of food, "Thanks for the snacks!"

"Your welcome sweetie. Well I don't want to interrupt your night. Have fun girls!," she answered and left the room.

We started the night talking mindlessly about school as we shoved junk food down our throats. When we got to the point where we ate all the sugar in the house we grew tired of….well eating. Spluttered on Alice's bed we lied on our backs for about 10 seconds. Then we turned our heads so we all made eye contact, I saw our faces were sleepy which caused us to burst out laughing hysterically. We didn't even know why we were laughing but that only made us laugh even harder.

Rose and I fell of the bed and I found myself clutching the ground for support. When it got to the point where our stomachs actually hurt and breathing was getting tougher we gained as much control as we could to stop the giggling.

I could hear their heavy breaths on the other side of the room as we all put an end to the laughter. I exhaled and held my stomach as I sat up off the floor.

"Girls? Are you alright?," I heard Esme call from the other room.

We smiled and realized how loud we were. "Yeah mom! We're fine!"

Climbing back on the bed, we settled ourselves once again. Just then Alice's phone beeped signaling she received a text. Sliding her phone open, she read the text - a smile spread across her face and stared lovingly into the phone typing a response.

"Let me guess - it's jasper," Rose said, obviously.

Alice out the phone back on the bed. "Oh stop complaining Rose! You have your moments with Emmett! Plus, I can't help it that Jasper is so sweet!," she retorted.

Rosalie picked up a pillow and banged it on Alice's head. "Ow!"

I laughed at them and Rose suddenly turned to face me. "Oh Bella…we haven't heard anything about your love life," she smirked. Alice quickly joined in on Rose's excitement. "Come on Bella - it's just us girls! We're friends now, you can tell us!"

I sighed, "There's nothing to tell," I said simply.

Rosalie rolled her eyes, "Yeah right Bella! Like I am going to let you get away with that! Spill!"

I bit my lip and looked down,. I pulled my face up and looked them in the eye. "Seriously. There is nothing to tell."

Their eyes widened in surprise as they realized the truth behind my words, "You mean that you've never had a boyfriend?," Alice smiled.

"Nope. Oh and to make me even more of a dork, I've never been kissed either."

"Bella! Your not a dork! Besides, before Jasper, I never kissed anyone either," Alice reassured me.

Rose agreed, "I think that's sweet, I mean your waiting for that special someone, no reason to hook up with every guy you meet, right?"

"Yeah. I-I'm not ashamed, I just…I always had a hard time fitting in because of my…inexperience," I said with a chuckle. They looked at me confusingly, wanting me to add more, I looked down playing with a piece of licorice. "Okay…back in Phoenix, I didn't have any close friends, at lunch I was stuck with the nerds or sometimes I would end up alone. I wasn't a tan, blonde, cheerleader who had a football playing boyfriend, so I never was anything close to popular. So that's why as close as we are right now, even though we've just meet, I … this is as close I've ever been with anybody my age. I know I must sound stupid and I don't want you guys to feel obligated to become my best friends or anything, I just -"

"Oh Bella!," Alice exclaimed placing her hand on mine apologetically. "Those people in Phoenix we're so stupid not to be friends with you! I can tell already we are going to be great friends!" I opened my mouth to remind her I didn't want her to feel sorry for me, but she cut me off, "No Bella. I'm serious. We're going to be great friends - trust me, I have psychic abilities," she finished, lightening the mood.

"Yeah Bella," Rose said grabbing my other hand, "best friends."

I laughed at their enthusiasm, "Thanks. Really. It's nice to know that I have people willing to spend time with me at school."

Rose laughed, "Yeah, like you'd have a hard time here."

"What you mean?," Did she just miss my whole loner speech?

Alice responded, "Bella. I know back in Phoenix you weren't 'popular' or whatever, but this is Seattle. All the guys are practically drooling over you-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!," I interrupted, putting my hands out in front of me. "Are you guys blind-"

Rose questioned me, "Are you? Have you seen the looks you get from, Tyler, Eric-"

"Oh don't forget Mike!," Alice finished with a laugh.

"Yeah, they give me these weird looks every time I glance their way and-"

Rose and Alice threw their head back, laughing. "Those weird looks are what they think of as flirting."

"Flirting?," they nodded. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah, just wait, I bet that this week your going to get asked out-," I shook my head 'no', Alice ignored my gesture and continued, "more than once."

"You seriously think so," I asked not believing. She nodded, "Well I bet that I won't get asked out even one time this week."

Alice cocked an eyebrow, "Fine. You get asked out, you have to…go on a date with one of the lucky contestants."

I crossed my arms, "Fine. And if no one asks me out and you have to…wear a hideous outfit to school," I challenged. If you knew Alice at all, you would know how much she cares about fashion.

Alice extended her arm to me, "Deal?"

I clasped her hand in mine, "Deal."

_

_

After Rose and Alice painted my nails -against my will- we decided to go down stairs for a drink. When we reached the kitchen, I noticed Esme sitting on a chair beside the window. She had a phone pressed up against her ear and was murmuring something with a smile on her face and apparent love in her eyes.

"I miss you too. I can't wait until you come home. Okay, I love you. Oh, can I talk to Edward? Hello dear, how's the trip?! That's wonderful. I'm glad you're having a great time. Yes, she's right here," Esme handed the phone to Alice.

"Hey what's up!?," Alice said into the phone, "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Oh stop worrying about your homework.."

Alice went on, and I leaned over to Rosalie, giving her a questioning look. "Oh Esme was talking to Alice's dad, Carlisle. And right now Alice is talking to her brother Edward. He plays baseball and they pick top players to go to this camp where they like play baseball nad stuff... Anyway, they're both gone for like 2 weeks or something."

"Oh," Alice got off the phone and I asked her, "how come you never mentioned you had a brother?"

Alice looked surprised, "I didn't? I thought I did…oh well now you know," she smiled. I laughed and walked over to get a cup from the cabinet. "You'll meet them next week. They come back on Friday."

"Wow, that's a long time to be away from home."

Alice laughed, "Yeah, he kept going on about his homework, worrying his grades were slipping or whatever."

Rose shook her head, "That's so, Edward. His number one priority is always school. He doesn't even notice all those girls throwing themselves at him."

"I know! It wouldn't kill him to go out with someone," Alice scoffed.

Esme defended her son, "Be nice girls. He just hasn't found a special someone yet."

"Your right, but it's always fun to tease Edward," Esme laughed at that. "He's kind of like Bella. You two both-," Alice gasped. She turned to Rose and whispered in her ear. Rose's eyes lit up and they both squealed something like, "Totally!" or "Its perfect!"

Esme came to me then, "Don't worry, they do this all the time and your not alone. They're big on gossip."

I laughed and filled my cup with water. "Oh Bella! Do you want to come shopping with us tomorrow? We're going to get some winter clothes."

"Uh…sure," I'm not a fan of shopping but I'm sure I'd have fun with Alice and Rose with me. "Yeah, count me in."

"Yay! It's gonna be so much fun with you there!"

We walked back up stairs and the played some of their favorite songs for me. I'd never heard them before. They were all upbeat and some of them were pretty pointless, though very catchy. Rose and Alice knew every lyric and every tune.

Then, Alice said she wanted to show me something. They pulled me into Alice's walk in closet.

"Wow." They just laughed and Alice threw a hat on my head and Rose slipped an scarf around my waist, pulling me deeper into the madness.

All I saw was shoes, purses, dresses, hats, jeans, and more shoes. No other word would fit, "Wow," I breathed.

"Yeah, I think everyone has that same reaction," Alice said.

"Honestly…I'm not surprised." We all laughed and spent the next hour throwing on random clothes. We took turns fake modeling - posing for an imaginary camera and walking down our own runway. Of course Rose and Alice actually looked like models while I failed hopelessly.

During our photo shoot I remembered the time. "Shoot. What time is it?"

"I don't know…like 11:30," Rose said carelessly.

I sighed, "I better go. My parents are going to get worried," I rolled my eyes.

We changed into our regular clothes and I gathered my stuff up. Rose decided to stay at the Cullen's for the night. It surprised me once again to see that Alice and Rosalie think of each other as sisters.

I hugged Esme before I left, "Thank you so much," I said politely.

She put her hands on my shoulders, "It's was so nice to meet you, Bella. Remember that you are welcome here anytime. I can tell that you three are going to be good friends."

I smiled at her kindness and realized that her words sounded so right. "Thank you Alice, so much. You too, Rose. You guys are so great." We pulled into a group hug. I whispered to them sincerely, "Thank you," referring to their encouraging words they gave me earlier this evening. They knew what I meant.

I departed after our goodbyes. The ground was wet from previous rain. My feet sloshed in the puddles, wetting my shoes and hem of my pants. Crap. Maybe I should get some new shoes tomorrow. I got in my truck without slipping - surprisingly- and quickly drove off, waving to my best friends.

**Finally!! I'm finished with is chapter! I don't know why it took me so long to write!!! But it is the longest chapter I've ever wrote although it's not even that long!!! Well I hope you liked it! Yes, Edward is coming!!! (I'm excited for that) J Reviewing makes me write faster ;) so REVIEW**

**I was wondering…what is the most reviewed twilight fanfic?! The most I have found is 'Welcome to Drama Academy' by twilightluver001 and 'Boycotts and Barflies' by vjgm. (if you haven't read them...read them!!!! They're sooo good!)**

**So if you guys find a story(s) with more than 10,000 reviews…tell me! Or if you have a favorite story…tell me! I love reading new stories!! **

**Thanks!!!!!**


	3. Charmer

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, but here it is! Thanks for being patient!!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga *tear tear***

Beep. Beep. Beep. My phone signaled a text message. I opened my eyes slightly and saw my fogged up window. My head shifted to the side and I looked at the bright green numbers on my clock shine 9:37. Remembering what woke me up I picked my phone off my nightstand and checked opened my message from Alice.

_Wake up! Are we still on for today?! Text me back!_

I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes, officially waking myself up before sending a reply.

_I'm up! Yes, I'm still in. What time do you want to go?_

A few minutes later my phone beeped again saying to be ready at 12:00. I stood slowly, stretching my limbs and made my way to the bathroom. I jumped in the steaming hot shower, letting my thoughts wander to last night. I already had great memories with Alice and Rose. I wasn't afraid to tell them about myself and I don't regret it at all either. I trust them.

After drying my long wet hair, I picked out a simple outfit: jeans and a t-shirt with my jacket layered on top. I knew Alice would scold me for it being boring. I took a look in the mirror and figured my boring clothes match my plain brown hair and dull brown eyes. Sighing to my reflection I suddenly heard a knock on the front door. I grabbed my bag, said goodbye to Renee and Charlie and turned the gold knob.

"Bella!," greeted a chipper Alice and Rosalie. "Are you ready!?"

"Yep, let's go," I replied. I walked outside and closed the door behind me. When I turned around I saw brilliant yellow car parked along the curb. I stopped my movement, "Is this _your's_?" I asked Alice in disbelief.

They both chuckled, "Yeah, I got it for my sixteenth birthday last year."

"Whoa. That is so COOL." I stepped forward and stroked the glossy paint. I hadn't even seen it move, but it looked fast. And expensive.

Rose strode over to me and started to fill me in abut the model, "It's a Porsche 911 Turbo."

I looked at her confusingly, "Um…cool?," we laughed. "Sorry, I don't speak cars."

I gawked at the car some more before Alice jumped into the driver's seat, "Let's go Bella, the mall is waiting." Listening to Alice, I climbed into the backseat and we sped off. I was right, it was fast.

We made it to the local mall in just a short few minutes. I felt out of place walking in the mall beside the beauty and style of Rosalie and Alice. They looked like they came out of a fashion magazine while looked like…plain boring. We walked into numerous stores and I watched them try outfit after outfit. "That one is really cute," I told Alice as she twirled in a sweater dress outside the dressing room of some designer store.

"Bella, you said that about everything!," she whined.

I shrugged, "Well I think everything's cute. Besides you guys can pull everything off."

They rolled their eyes, "Oh come on Bella. Why don't you try something on?!" Rose said once again trying to persuade me to get myself into the clothing.

"No."

Alice came back from changing into her original clothes, "Yes," she contradicted. "You can't go to the mall and not buy anything." She picked up a grey dress and held it out for me.

"No," I said again. Her eyes narrowed while she glared at me. I sighed, "Fine. But just one dress. That's it."

They squealed in delight and threw me into the small room with the dress. I quickly put on the clothing she gave me and pulled back the curtain to reveal it to Alice and Rosalie. My face was tight and I crossed my arms, "There. Happy? Can I change now?"

"Bella! You look so cute! It fits you so well! You have to get it!," they said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes, "Guys, I don't know what your talking about. It's just a dress."

Rose stomped over to me, "Bells, look in the mirror. You look great." I turned grudgingly to face my reflection. The dress was cute and it did fit me nicely, it just didn't look like me. I wasn't quite sure I could wear something like this. I informed my friends about my thoughts and they argued with me until Alice dashed out of the dressing room and back into the store. Just a couple minutes later she came back with a handful of clothes and walked over to me.

"No, Alice. I'm _not_ going to try all of that on."

"Yes you are. You don't want to go out of your comfort zone, you don't have to. These are all plain ol' pants and shirts."

I knew I would never win so I just took the pile with an unhappy glare in Alice's direction.

-

-

Annoying as it was to admit it, Alice was right. She picked out clothes that suited me but also won their approval. Although it felt like I tried on the whole store, I only bought a quarter of the items they wanted me to get. I told her that two pants, three tops, two sweaters, a jacket, and a pair of boots was definitely enough for one day. We stopped to get some drinks on our way back to the car. When we were all seated, Rose questioned me, "So, Bella, how was your first ever shopping trip with The Queen of Fashion?"

"Well, it was very…," I struggled for the right word, "interesting?," my answer came out like a question.

They laughed and Alice started to pull out of the space, "Was it really that bad?"

I deliberated for a moment before answering, "Yeah." We all broke out in laughter and happily continued home. When Alice came to a stop in front of my house I invited them to come in.

I opened the door and stepped in, "Sorry for the mess, we're still in the moving process." They quickly shrugged it off and we took our jackets off.

I heard Renee call from upstairs, "Bells? Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I brought my friends over."

She walked down the stairs and noticed Alice and Rose standing next to me, "Hi, it's nice to meet you," she said to Alice and Rose. They introduced themselves and we decided to walk up to my room. "I'm warning you Alice, it's the plainest room you'll ever see. I still haven't gotten any decorations yet."

She stepped in, taking a look around. She raised and eyebrow, "I can change that." I rolled my eyes and walked over to a chair and slumped down, resting my body from all the shopping.

We sat in my room and talked for a while before they decided they should leave. I said my goodbyes and Alice reminded me of our bet, "don't forget," she said with a evil smile.

"Oh I won't forget. Just think about wearing those sweats and sneakers."

"I have a feeling I won't need to."

I shook my head, guys never paid any attention to me before, why would they start now? I'm totally going to win this. "Game on."

-

-

Monday. Again. I like English, but Mr. Hartman 's voice works like a lullaby. It just puts you to sleep the second he opens his mouth. And it's early in the day, nobody really has the energy for paying attention.

I looked to the students next to me to see if I was the only one bored to death. The girl to my right, Jessica, was looking down, dissecting her hair for split ends. I turned to my left where a Mike sat. I caught him staring at me and when he saw he just smiled and waved. I looked at him confusingly and pulled my lips into a small and tight smile before looking back to Mr. Hartman.

After torturous minutes the bell finally rang. I packed my things and threw the strap on my backpack over my shoulder. When I turned around I saw Mike Newton waiting in front of my desk.

"Hey, Bella," he said, jerking his head up.

"Um, hi"

"So, I was wondering if you weren't doing anything this weekend, then maybe you'd like to go out with the coolest guy in town."

"What?"

He smiled, 'You know, like a date."

I paused for a moment then remembered Alice and the bet, "I get it, Alice told you to do this to make me feel better right?"

"Huh?," he asked, obviously confused.

"Wait. You mean you didn't talk to Alice?"

He shook his head, "Alice? Why? What do you mean?"

"_Oh_," I realized Alice wasn't apart of this. "Um…sorry Mike, I-um, I can't."

His smiled faded, "Are you busy or something…?"

"Yeah, that. I'm busy. Really busy," I didn't have a reason so I hoped he would just walk away.

"Oh, okay. Well, um, I guess I'll see you…later."

"Yeah, later," I sighed as he walked away.

I walked outside to find a smiling Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett waiting in the hallway. Alice was the first to say something, "So, Bella, why were you and Mike the last people to come out of class?"

I rolled my eyes, "I know you know why."

"Maybe, but I still want to hear it from you."

I exhaled, "Mike asked me out and I politely declined the invitation."

They all laughed aloud, "Don't worry, Bella. You deserve someone better than Newton." I joined their laughter and we continued our boring day.

-

-

Ugh, Tuesday. I was in History class with Alice resting my cheek on my hand watching the seconds tick by when something fell on my desk. I looked at the flying object before noticing it was a folded piece of paper. _Bella_ it read, I opened it up scanned the note that read:

_Bella, do you want to go out on Saturday? -Eric_

I looked back and found Eric watching me, waiting for a response. Seriously? I glanced over at Alice, she was grinning at me, I glared back and wrote down my answer on the paper.

_Sorry, I can't, I'm busy_.

I passed it back to Eric, after a minute a looked at him and he had a confused look, he tried to ask me if I could do it another day by using his hands but I just shrugged, pretending not to understand what he was saying. I refocused on History and what Mr. Frank was telling us.

The bell rang for lunch and I ran out of the room, pulling Alice along with me before Eric could get a chance to confront me.

As soon as we were out of the hearing distance Alice was cracking up. We sat down at the lunch table where the rest of our friends already were. Once she was seated she didn't hesitate to tell them, "Bella got asked out by Eric!"

I grimaced at her, placing my head in my heads, shaking my head while I heard their giggles. "Another one, Bella?," Emmett sneered, "Nice going."

I glared at him, "Shut-up." They broke into another round of laughter, "Alice, does this mean that I have to go o a date with Mike or Eric?," referring to the bet.

Alice thought for a second before answering, "Let's wait a couple more days and see if anyone better comes along," she smiled.

I rolled my eyes and quickly changed the subject, making sure Mike or Eric weren't mentioned the rest of lunch.

-

-

"Alright everyone, get with your partners and start working," Mr. Banner announced during Biology. When was my partner coming back? I hope he's better than Mike or Eric. Well, anyone's better than them.

I grudgingly walked over to the table with Mike and Eric, about to pull a chair up on the side when Mike shot up from his seat, "Bella, why don't you sit here, it's more comfortable."

He was still being nice to me after I rejected him? "Um…that's okay. This seat's fine," I replied, not really wanting to sit in between them both.

"I insist, sit down."

I opened my mouth but Eric began, "Dude, she said she's fine," he said to Mike. Then he looked at me with a smile, "Here, Bella, you can sit here," he said gesturing to a seat next to him. Why aren't they mad at me for rejecting them!?

Where they really fighting over where I sat? How old where they? "Guys!," they stopped their arguing and I pulled up a chair in between them. "Let's just do this lab."

They agreed and we started the lab, without fighting. It went smoothly and as soon as we got the last question, I returned to my original seat, away from Mike and Eric. I could still hear them though, "Dude, look you just drove her away," Eric said.

Mike scoffed, "Me! It was you-" I stopped listening to their bickering and focused on the Biology homework until the bell rang.

-

-

"So what do you say Bella?" Tyler said to me in the lunch line. I thought about how Wednesday came and went very fast. And thankfully, no offers to go out. Why did Thursday have to be different?

"Oh um…I can't. Sorry," I stuck with the same terrible excuse.

"Right, that's what Mike and Eric said."

"Why did you ask then?"

"I just thought maybe you made up an excuse…," I looked at him confusingly. He blushed, "well, um, bye." It was such a change for guys to like me now, I didn't really get it. And I wasn't the least bit interested in any of the ones who do.

I sighed and marched down to our usual table. "Was that what I think it was?" Rose asked me when I slumped in a chair.

"Yup," the usual chuckles came out and I just ignored them and faced Alice, "So does this mean I have to pick Mike, Eric, or Tyler?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but that's the bet."

"Fine," I said grudgingly.

"So who you gonna pick?" Rosalie asked me.

"I don't know...Mike I guess, since he was the first one, it's only fair."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Maybe something with happen with the date..."

"No chance."

"Yeah, yeah..."

She smiled instantly. "Hey, on the bright side, why don't you come over tomorrow. We're having a sleepover."

"Yeah, of course, I'll be there."

"Yay, it's going to be so much fun!" she said and she clapped her hands together. Aside from the elation and excitement, I saw a unclassifiable hint of wicked in her eyes.

**No Edward!!! Ahh! Sorry! I was going to squeeze him in this chapter…but I would have just left it on a really bad cliffy….I thought it would work better if I waited 'til the next chap.! But I promise y'all he's coming in the next one for sure!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Please tell me what you want Bella's ringtone to be??!! Please oh please review!!!! I'm begging!!!!! :)**


	4. I Caught Myself

**Disclaimer: I do _not_own Twilight (or Romeo and Juliet or Prada or any other allusion I made in this chapter)  
****  
Yup! It's finally here!! I don't know about you, but I'm excited...I've been working on this for what..two months and two days, but whos counting?! I'm so very sorry it took that long...there hasn't been a day when I don't think about this story, but there _has_ been days where i don't write anything. I never seem to find time to just write. Well anyway, for Valentine's Day I give you...chapter 4 with THE Edward Cullen!**

_You got me tripping, stumbling, flipping, fumbling  
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love  
You got me slipping, tumbling, sinking, fumbling  
Clumsy cause-_

I rumaged closer to the sound of the ringtone Alice and Rosalie made me get. Finding the little device, I looked down at my phone, the caller ID read _Rose. _"Hello."

"Hey, Bella," Rosalie's golden voice answered.

"Hey, Rose! What's up?"

"I'm leaving my house now to go to Alice's, do you want me to pick you up?"

"Yeah...that'd be great!"

"Okay, I'll be there in about five minutes."

"'Kay, thanks. Bye!" I hung up and rushed to throw in my old sweats and a t-shirt for my pajamas. I heard a honk from a car, coming from outside my house. I went down stairs, saying my goodbyes and found Rosalie in her red convertible blasting some pop song.

"Hey," she greeted me as I climbed into the passenger seat. I turned down the volume, she laughed. "Sorry, I'm used to it being loud."

"I'm surprised your not partially deaf."

She rolled her eyes,"Get used to it."

I shook my head, "So who's coming tonight?"

"Well it's kinda like a welcome home party. Besides you and me, Em, Jazz, and Edward - Alice's brother who was at that baseball camp."

"Oh...right. So he's back?"

"Yeah, he and Alice's dad came back today. Edward is Emmett and Jasper's best friend...we're all really close with him...with each other."

I nodded my head, "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Rose shot her head in my direction, smiling, "Wow, Bella. You haven't even met him and your already interested?"

My eyes widened when I realized what she thought my words meant. "No! Not like that! I just mean that you are all paired off: You and Em, Alice and Jasper...I thought it would be obvious for Edward to have a girlfriend. Someone your all close to...it would make sense to have three pairs-"

"Okay, Bella. I get it," Rose cut me off, laughing. "But, no. Edward doesn't have a girlfriend, though anyone girl in school would gladly take the offer - he doesn't even realize it."

"Oh," I responded.

"Yeah, we can tell he gets lonely sometimes....being surrounded by couples and all...but he busies himself with school and such."

"Right." We had come to a stop in front of the Cullen's house. We walked up to the door and it swung open revealing a usually happy Alice.

"Hey guys," Alice cheered. Emmett came up to Rosalie and kissed her before bringing her over to a clump of people on the other side of the room. I noticed Esme standing there holding hands with a blonde man I identified as Alice's dad. I could tell there was another guy sitting down - though he was blocked by Esme.

Emmett and Rose joined them, going beside Jasper. "Hey, Bella's here!" Em announced. I blushed as Esme turned and smiled motherly at me. She walked over to me with the blonde man, "Bella! It's so nice to see you again. I'd like you to meet my husband, Carlisle."

Carlisle smiled and extended his hand towards me, "Hello, pleasure to meet you, Bella."

I shook his hand, "Same to you too, Dr. Cullen."

"Please, just Carlisle."

"Edward, come over here and meet Bella," Esme called. I saw a figure rise from the other side of the room. He turned and walked towards me.

I first noticed his hair. It was a brilliant shade of bronze and randomly skewed in all directions. My gaze came down from his hair to his face and I noticed the bright green eyes that went along superbly with the rest of his perfect features. His lips were slightly parted as he was looking at me, his eyes seemed focused.

Esme's voice broke my reverie. "Bella, this is my son, Edward. And Edward, this is Bella, Alice's new friend."

I blushed a light shade of pink, "Hello," he said in a velvet voice. He took his right hand out of his pocket and slowly moved it slightly forward. I could tell he was deliberating whether or not to shake my hand. I guess he thought it'd be weird for two teenagers to shake hands, he decided to just run his free hand through his messy hair.

"Hi," was my brilliant response. I mentally slapped myself. I smiled at him politely and he turned his lips up at the corners, revealing his white teeth.

My breath caught at his amazing smile. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," he said in that same rich voice.

I glared at Alice, "What did you tell him?"

Before she could answer, Edward did. "Don't worry. Nothing bad at all. Believe me."

I blushed deeper, I opened my mouth to respond but I heard Alice exclaim, "Oh, Bella! I totally forgot your carrying all your bags. Sorry, let's go put them down."

I just realized I was still carrying my sleep over bags on my arm so I let Alice take me upstairs and set them down. Rosalie followed behind us and we ended up in her room for a while. "I'm hungry let's go get something to eat downstairs," Alice said.

"Oh! I brought some candies for us. Let me go get them." I rummaged through my bag trying to find the chocolates hidden under everything. I started to take things on top out looking for the food.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed holding up a pair of my really old sweat pants. "What is this?"

I laughed, "Well I guess you haven't seen sweats before but I don't wear Prada to sleep."

She grimaced, "Sweats are fine...but these have holes in them, Bella! That is unacceptable."

"I like them, okay. They're comfy," I reached my hand out to grab them from her.

She held them to her side, "Nope. These are gone."

"Alice!" I fought with her, trying to get the pants back. She wouldn't let me have them, so she ran. "Alice! Where are you going?"

She snickered, racing out of the room and around the second floor. I followed her, hoping not to trip. She entered a room I had never been in before, I wasn't paying attention to anything but the movements of the tiny pixie. "Hey, what are you doing?" I heard a deep voice call. Emmett. There were two other guys there, Jasper and Edward I assumed. They just looked at us like we're psycho. The pants weren't really our main concern, we just had too much fun acting like children. My eyes we're glued to hers until I suddenly ran into something hard.

I expected to fall back on the ground, I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the fall. But much to my surprise, I didn't hit the ground, I felt two strong arms wrap around my back, holding me up.

My eyes fluttered open, I was immediately overwhelmed by the sea of green staring back at me. It was Edward who caught me, who I ran into. I blushed red, I just met him and the first thing I do is fall. Great first impression.

But I couldn't pull my eyes away from his, they were not only beyond gorgeous, but they had so much depth to them, I just looked back intently, for an immeasurable amount of time. I blinked and I realized he was still holding me.

I stood myself upright completely, he dropped his arms to his sides. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"No problem. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Just suffering from embarrassment.

Emmett boomed. "Nice, Bella! It's not even eight o'clock and you already manage to fall!"

I glared at Emmett, though my face got hot, "It's not my fault Alice decided to play tag!"

"Oh come on, Bella! Look at these things - didn't I teach you anything when we went shopping?"

"Nothing I'd like to use for future reference." I heard Edward laugh beside me, I smiled at myself for making him laugh.

"These pants are never to be seen again," Alice retorted, completely serious.

"So this whole thing is because of a pair of pants?" Edward asked.

"It's not just a pair of pants, it's old, holey, faded piece of fabric," that sent everyone in the room into hysterics.

"I honestly don't know how I put up with you, Alice," I shook by head.

"You? I had to live with her my whole life and identify her as someone I was related to!" Edward joked, receiving glares from Alice.

Jasper, being the good boyfriend, bite his lip, stopping him from laughing and defended his love. "I put up with her just fine. I have no complaint about her." Alice flashed a smile at us before turning to Jasper, thanking him and giving him a chaste kiss.

Edward, Emmett and I rolled out eyes. "Get a room," Emmett muttered.

"Oh I wouldn't be talking Em. You and Rose have nothing on Alice and Jasper," I countered.

Edward snickered. "Sorry Em, but she's right," we all laughed and just on time Rosalie came in the room.

"What's all the laughing about?" she asked just before planting one on Emmett.

"My point exactly," I said.

Alice brought us back to my pants, "Okay, Bella, you can keep them, but they are never to be seen by me again. If I cross paths with these things, they will be shredded."

I grinned back, "How sweet of you."

"There's always a compromise, Bella." She handed me back my pants, "Now where were we before the game of tag happened?"

"I believe we all agreed on food, though that hasn't happened yet," Rosalie answered.

"Food!," Emmett perked, "I'm craving...smore's!"

We all looked at Emmett confusingly, "Why would you be craving smores?" Jasper questioned his random outburst.

"Because they're good!" was Emmett's brilliant reply.

Everyone laughed at the randomness of our friend. But Alice got an idea, "Oh! How about we make a fire! So we can roast marshmallows and everything! Remember we used to do that when we were younger!"

"Yeah, we used to go in the backyard and sit around in a circle," Edward smiled.

"Let's go! Boys, get the fire started and girls let's get the food," Alice ordered.

We all assumed our positions as the guys raced to the yard and we made our way to the cupboard for food. After we found our bags of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers we headed out the doors.

The small fire was already lighted by the guys when we all gathered around it. Alice and Jasper sat comfortably on the floor next to each other as did Rosalie and Emmett.

I took my spot to the left of Alice, while Edward placed himself to the right of Emmett. We all cooked are marshmallows and smeared them onto chocolate, sandwiching between crackers. We enjoyed the food while I listened to them reminiscing about the past and the funny stories about everyone.

Emmett and Rose started to get _very_ cozy with each other and Alice and Jazz looked like they were having a moment as well. Not wanting to intrude I took it upon myself to go inside to get something to drink.

I picked up a glass and turned myself around, finding the hunk of a brother Alice had standing there. "Hi," I said surprised he was there. "I just wanted to-"

"Get away from the kissing couples," he finished with a smile.

I nodded. "Something like that."

We laughed, "So..your new in town?"

"Yeah, I moved here from Arizona a couple weeks ago."

"Right...and how did you end up in our freak show?" he said sarcastically.

"I'm not quite sure, I think it started when Alice saved me lunch special."

"How heroic of her."

I giggled, "Well they seem to approve of me, hopefully you can too," I said teasingly. Though part of me really cared what his answer was.

"You seem fairly normal," he mused.

"That's what you think."

He raised his eyebrows, "You're not?"

"I'd like to think that I'm _not_ normal actually." He looked at me confusingly. "What's so great about being normal anyway? I find it boring, being weird is so much better."

He smiled, "That's true. But what _is_ normal anyway? Everyone's definition is different, I think that everybody is a little weird. But that's not a bad thing either."

We burst out in loud laughter because of our silly theories.

"So...tell me about yourself. I missed the past two weeks, fill me in."

"What do you want to know?" I questioned.

"Anything." He pursed his lips trying to think of a question. "Music?"

"Nothing much, but if anything I mostly listen to classics. Although Alice and Rose and got me listening to the current hit list...pop songs and whatnot."

"Ah, Britney Spears _is_ timeless," he said sarcastically.

I laughed, "So what about you?"

"Well, I like a lot but the classics as well. I especially love piano compositions."

"Do you play? I noticed the grand piano in the other room."

"I'm not very good...But, I try..."

"Well that's more than I can ever do."

Our conversations continued effortlessly until we realized that we should probably get back to the rest of the group.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Alice exclaimed when we walked back outside.

"Yeah, what_ were_ you doing?" Emmett said wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

My face burned, "Emmett!" I spluttered.

I peeked over at Edward who was burying his face in his hands. He muttered something like, "so obnoxious," though I was the only one who heard.

Meanwhile, everyone else was giggled at our embarrassment.

"What!? You guys were inside for a long time!"

"Yes, Emmett, we were just having a wild, passionate make out session on the kitchen table," Edward said in a monotone.

"Okay, okay...I was just saying..."

"What do you take us for Emmett? We've known each other for 5 hours!" I remarked.

"True. Edward is way too innocent to do something like that!"

I cocked an eyebrow, "Are you saying_ I'm_ not too innocent to do that?"

Alice and Rosalie snorted, "Bells, trust me, your more innocent than Eddie over there," Rose told me.

"I disagree," Jasper spoke now. "I think Edward's more innocent." Edward and I looked over at each other with an are-they-really-debating-our-innocence look.

"Sorry, hun, but I go with Rose on this one," Alice contradicted.

Em shook his head, "I'm siding with Jazz. I mean come on, Edward's never even had a girlfriend before!"

"So! Bella hasn't had a boyfriend either_ and_ she's yet to have her first kiss."

I grimaced. "Please, Alice. Just tell the world!"

Emmett and Jazz questioned if it was true while Edward turned towards me, "You haven't?"

I flushed crimson. Great now everyone knows, even Edward, "Alice, you are so dead."

Edward grinned, "No, don't be embarrassed-"

He was cut off my Emmett. "Okay, I think Bella wins the innocence game...Edward has had his first kiss, right?"

Edward suddenly looked down at his feet ignoring everyone stare. "Wait! Edward, you haven't had your first kiss?!" Jasper asked, surprsied.

I saw a shade of pink appear on his cheeks. "Oh my God!" Alice exclaimed. "My older brother hasn't had his first kiss!"

"You deprived children," Rosalie murmured.

I was genuinely surprised. Edward? Hot, muscular, gorgeous, Edward? Never been kissed?

Part of me wanted to say, _wow. _but I also wanted to comfort him, I knew how it felt.

Though there was a little part of me, the teenage girl with the raging hormones part, wanted to tell him, _Hey how 'bout we use our first kiss on each other! _What?! No! Shut-up stupid hormones!

"Damn, Edward! Now you're just as innocent as Bella!" Emmett roared.

Edward threw his head back, "Can you please stop talking about our innocence?!"

"We can, but we won't," Em retorted.

Edward and I groaned simultaneously. I raised my hand, "I agree with Edward, no more talk on our innocence."

"No way, this is too good," Rose said. "Who knew Eddie was such a goodie goodie?"

"Okay, one, don't call me Eddie. And two, it's not our fault we have a...sophisticated mentality."

Even I giggled at that one, sophisticated mentality? That was one way to put it.

Alice sighed. "It's only a matter of time."

"What is?" I questioned.

She smirked. "Nothing...nothing at all."

My eyes narrowed at her and she glared back, more evil than I could ever do. I sighed loudly. "Not fair, you always win."

She grinned widely. "Yup!"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't know how you handle her Jazz."

We all laughed at that, as we made our way back in the house for a movie. "Okay, so we have Prom Night, 1408, and The Ring...which one?" Alice announced.

My heart skipped a beat. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's _scary _movie?!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Duh, scary movies are required for sleep overs."

"Says who?!"

"Us," they said at the same time.

"No way! I'm not watching those _death _films!"

They all laughed at me. "Come on, Bella! You already agreed to it."

"That was _before_ you specified what genre we were watching. I have a bad history with horror movies, I'm scarred for life. I'll wake you all up tonight from my screaming."

"Too bad. You're watching." Alice's tone was final.

"Fine. But if I'm murdered in my sleep, your to blame!"

They giggled at me and got situated around the big flat screen. Rose and Emmett on the love seat and Alice and Jasper on the big recliner, both snuggling together.

"See if you ever get scared, you have a man to protect to."

"Yeah, where _is_ Brad Pitt?"

She shook her head but Emmett being Emmett felt the need to pitch in his thoughts. "Don't worry, Bells. I'm sure Edward would _love _to be your protector."

"Emmett?" Edward spoke in a soft tone.

"Yeah?"

His voice took a 180 and became menacing. "Shut the hell up." I could see his cheeks turning slightly flushed as mine did the same.

We finally sat down, Edward and I taking the long couch.

I grabbed the nearest pillow as _Prom Night_ began, holding it in front of my face so only my eyes were peeking out.

The movie started out with a girl watching her mother being stabbed to death...what a damper on the party mood. When the main character's boyfriend came on the screen Alice, Rosalie, and myself thought he was pretty cute.

We started squealing whenever be came on and that didn't please Em or Jasper too much. I laughed at their pouts they made. Though still holding the pillow up, covering my face every time the killer would make his appearance.

By the third murder I was becoming immune to the repetitive slashing. The movie passed by quickly and when the end came I scrunched my face in distaste. "That was lame and sad...everyone died! They should have at lease saved the boyfriend!" I scoffed.

Alice and Rosalie agreed, "I know! What's the point of living if you don't have anybody to live with?"

We decided to call it a night and we walked upstairs before parting our separate ways.

The other couples had their own way of good-nights which once again left Edward and I standing alone. We turned away, giving them privacy. "Goodnight, Bella. It was nice to meet you. I had a good time spending my night with you."

I smiled, "I had a good time was well. 'Night."

After about twenty minutes we were all in our sleeping positions with the lights out, though we didn't sleep.

We stayed up for another hour or so, talking randomly until I heard Rose's soft breathing, signaling her unconsciousness. Alice and I giggled but decided we should sleep was well.

When Alice joined Rose in her peaceful state, I was still up, unable to sleep. I cursed silently, I hated those times when sleep never came. I learned the way to put me asleep was reading. Thankfully I packed my tattered copy of _Romeo and Juliet._

I grabbed it out of my bag and since I couldn't turn the light on without waking the others in the room, I had to go downstairs for my reading spot.

I tiptoed as silently as possible, praying I wouldn't fall, but of the total darkness didn't help much either. I turned the corner when my toe hit something causing me to stumble awkwardly on one foot until I felt someone grab my waist pulling me towards them.

When your in a pitch black house and everyone you know is sleeping and you just watched a horror movie, when an unknown figure comes and grabs you, the first and logical reaction to scream.

So I did just that. For a split second a my yell of terror lasted, but a warm hand covered it.

"Bella! Shh! It's just me, Edward."

I breathed a sigh of relief and he took his hand off my mouth. "God, Edward! I mistook you for an axe murderer! What are you doing?"

"Me! What are _you_ doing?"

I realized I probably look like a psycho walking around in the middle of the night, "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to read a little. But I couldn't read in the dark and I can't turn the light on or I'd wake everyone up. So I thought could come down here without disturbing anyone...but I guess I kinda failed at that."

He chuckled at my long breath, "How 'bout we go downstairs so I can actually see you."

I walked down the dark path, holding on to the railing for dear life. When we finally made it, Edward turned on the lamp, illuminating the room and making me able to see his emerald eyes.

"So, why are you reading at three in the morning?"

I blushed. "Reading is my technique to get me to sleep. But, what are you doing up?"

"I came to get some water when I saw a stumbling figure in the hallway...which is where you come in."

"Oh, right. Sorry," I mumbled.

He laughed, "I caught you two times in less than 12 hours. I think that's a record."

I scoffed and hit his arm playfully. "Hey!"

He lifted his hands in surrender, "I'm just stating the facts."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Edward, just go get your water."

"Yes, ma'am," he saluted. I giggled was he walked into the kitchen. It shocked me how I was already joking with Edward, it's so easy to be with him.

With Romeo and Juliet in hand I settled myself on the couch and opened it up to one of my favorite scenes. My eyes scanned the page and I focused on the Shaspearean words.

"Romeo and Juliet?" Edward's voice came from behind causing me to jump a little.

I placed my hand over my heart, "Jesus, why do you always scare me like that?"

"Its not my fault you're easily frightened," he replied. "So, you're a fan of Shakespeare?"

I nodded, "Romeo and Juliet is my favorite." he smirked, "let me guess, you think it's a stupid, sappy, melodramatic love story that is completely overrated."

He raised his eyebrows, "What makes you think that?"

"Most guys feel that way about Romeo and Juliet."

I didn't realize it, but we leaned into each other, so he spoke his next words with his lips near my face, "I guess I'm not most guys then." His hot breath tickled my skin and unintentionally his voice turned seductive.

I blinked, gaining my breath, "You've read it?"

He smiled and walked around to sit down next to me. He looked me straight in the eye, never losing my gaze. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand, This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Let me tell you, Edward Cullen plus Romeo Montague equals amazingness beyond compare.

I tried to regain composure quickly, not wanting to look foolish, "Good pilgrim," I recited the verse that came next, "you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." **(Translation: Romeo is saying Juliet is a saint and that his lips are like pilgrims, ready to make things better with a kiss. Juliet says that a pilgrims' kiss is holding the palms of their hands together.)**

We both reached our hands up and brought our palms together. I could feel his warm skin against mine and throughout this we still hadn't broken eye contact. We stayed in that position for an immeasurable amount of time, I just stared deep in to bright green orbs, trying to read them.

My arm grew tired of holding it up, tearing me out of my trance, my arms fell limply to my sides. "So you _do_ read _Romeo and Juliet_."

"Guilty," I laughed at his sheepish expression. "Now you probably think I'm some gay man who's loves all that sappy romance." I gave him confused expression. "That's what most girls think."

I tilted my head in, "I guess I'm not most girls then."

His face seemed blank for a second. I took this chance to get up and head towards the stairs. I looked back at him to see a grin on his face, I returned the smile before walking further.

"Bella?"

I whipped my body around to face him.

"I approve."

"Of what?"

"You," he replied simply. "I'm glad you're apart of our group now. I'll admit I was little worried that it would be uncomfortable with you...but it feels like I've already known you longer than...well, half a day. I'm looking forward to get to know you better."

I smiled widely at him, elated that he really did approve of me. "Thanks, Edward. I...I feel the same way."

"Good, 'cuz we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other."

"Definitely."

I stepped away and tripped on my own foot. I wobbled backwards but felt two hands place themselves on my back, holding me.

"That's three," he said, amusement in his voice.

"My hero," I replied in a fake southern accent. We laughed and safely got up the stairs.

Then he pulled me into a warm hug. I expected it to be awkward, but it felt...nice, natural. "Goodnight, Edward," I muttered as we pulled away, his sweet sent still swirling around my senses.

"Goodnight, Bella."

I crept slowly upstairs, into the familiar room and into my temporary bed. Sighing, I closed my eyes, relishing the moments I spent with Edward Cullen before slipping into unconsciousness.

**Finally...our Edward is back!!!!! yay! Bad? Good? I like the second half better than the first...but either way, REVIEW! And I mean it! Please, part of the reason it took me a long time to write was cuz I only got 3 reviews!!! So please, just click that little button down there and say anything!!! please! :D  
POLL UP ON MY PROFILE...I really need your opinion...i need it for the next chapter actually! so go vote!!!!!! and then REVEIW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please.  
Happy Valentine's Day, my loves! x3**


	5. High and Dry

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any part of it...yeah...**

**First off...thank you for the kind reviews I received!!! It makes me happy every time I get one!!!!! **

**So sorry for the long wait...still trying to find time to write!!! **

**Oh IMPORTANT: in the end of chapter 3...Alice lets the bet go and doesn't make Bella go on one of the three dates...but I changed that and made Alice an evil little pixie as she forced Bella to go on a date...Bella picked Mike. **So you can read the revised end of ch. 3 or just know that she is know forced to go on a date with Mike Newton.** Ew, I know.**

**And I want to say a quick thank you to** soxmuchxmorexx3 **for giving me that extra push to make Edward a baseball player (not to mention the fact that baseball players are sexy!)!! You're review made me laugh, so thank you again!! And yeah...baseball won the poll, if you didn't figure that...okay umm enjoy the chapter and let me stop my rambling.**

"Bella! Bella! Bella! Wake up!" My eyelids fluttered open at the high pitch sound of Alice's voice.

She was perched on the sheets near my feet with a huge grin on het face. Her appearance didn't look like it was early in the morning. The ink black boy cut she had was too short to look messy and she radiated the same amount of energy as if it was midday. I smiled, of course that little pixie would be a ball of fire in the morning.

Rosalie, on the other hand, wasn't as bright as Alice. Her long, golden locks her swept up in a ponytail, though strands had fallen out throughout the night. She looked sleepily at me before glaring at Alice. "Must you be so loud in the morning Alice?"

"Yup," Alice replied simply.

"I don't get how you get yourself motivated to have energy right now," I commented.

"It's Alice. Get used to it," Rose told me. "Though I still haven't."

I laughed and excused myself to the bathroom. I grimaced as I caught my appearance in the mirror.

My hair was a haystack so I brushed it out untangling the knots. I quickly cured myself of morning breath and walked out to find Alice and Edward already in the kitchen, making breakfast. "Bella, do you like pancakes?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, who doesn't."

"True," she said with a giggle as Edward poured some of the batter into a pan. The next thing I heard was Rosalie's girly squeal.

"Emmett! Put me down!"

Coming down the stairs I saw Emmett with a squirming Rosalie thrown on his shoulder. They were both laughing and smiling as he set her down on the floor and kissed her forehead softly. It was the gentlest I'd ever seen Emmett and I knew it was due to Rose.

"Thanks for the wake up call," she said sarcastically.

A toothy grin appeared on Emmett's face. "Anytime, Rosie."

Feeling like I was intruding on a private moment I turned away to find Edward pouring hater into a pan. "Do you need any help?" I asked Edward just as Jasper took a seat groggily beside me.

"No, no, you're the guest."

I rolled my eyes, I was here most of my time nowadays. "So...you can cook?"

"Well, pancakes are about the only thing I can make. And cereal." We laughed together just before we all sat down and starting eating the delicious pancakes. Suddenly my phone went off, I furrowed my eyebrows at the foreign number flashed across the screen. "Who is it?" Alice asked me.

"I don't know...no one in my contacts, do you recognize the number?" I questioned as I put the small device in Alice's hands.

She looked at it and shrugged but instead of giving it back to be she pressed it up to her ear, answering the call. "This is the Bella Swan phone line, how may I help you?"

I laughed and stuffed another piece of pancake in my mouth, her eyes widened. "Oh _Mike_, how are you?" I instantly choked at the sound of his name. Then I realized why he was calling I dropped my fork. "Yes, she's right her. Hold on one sec."

I stared at Alice's tiny hand holding my cell phone before hesitantly taking it. Everyone at the table was already shaking with silent laughter. I placed the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Bella! How are you?!"_ he asked joyfully.

"I'm good. You?"

"_I'm great, thanks for asking! So I was thinking, tonight are you free?"_

I wanted to say no but I couldn't lie to him, he was a nice guy and he did nothing wrong. "Yeah...I'm free."

"_Awesome! So I was thinking I could pick you up at like six and we could do dinner and a movie!"_

"Sure, that's fine with me."

"_Cool!" _did he always have to start his sentences like that?_ "I can't wait! See you at six! Bye, Bella!"_

"Bye, Mike." I clicked the call off and everyone just stared at me, dead silent. "What?"

"You're going on a date with Mike?" Alice asked me with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"It was your bet! It's not like I have a choice-"

The room erupted in loud laughter while I just rolled my eyes at them. Alice didn't laugh though, instead she started squealing and clapping. "Oh my god, Bella! Aren't you excited!? I know it's Mike but...still!"

"Umm...?" I wasn't sure what my reaction should be, Alice seemed to think I should be happy...I know she was.

"Come on! You should be excited! Oh, we need to figure out what you're going to wear and your hair...oh and make-up! Rose you can help me with that, right?"

"Alice! Calm down! It's not that big a deal."

She let out a big sigh. "It is a big deal!"

"Whatever..." I turned my head away from her and caught sight of Edward. He was looking a me intently, it seemed he was thinking about something hard. When he realized I was looking back he smiled and looked down at his pancakes, picking at them with his fork. I could have sworn there was a trace of pink on his cheeks.

-

-

"I should probably go now..." I told Alice after we finished breakfast and were lounging around the house.

"Okay, but you have to be back here by four thirty at the latest, otherwise we won't have time to get you ready!" Alice ordered. "Four-thirty should give us enough time, don't you think, Rose?"

We both looked over at Rosalie, she was staring at nothing but suddenly blinked and moved her gaze to us. "Yeah, four-thirty is good."

She looked distracted but I decided to let it go, it seemed Alice figured the same because she started telling me what I should clothes from my new wardrobe I should bring tonight.

I rolled my eyes at her and went upstairs to gather my stuff into one bag again. I then realized that Rose gave me a ride here and I didn't have my car to get back.

"Hey, Alice," I called to her as she was snuggled up against Jasper's lap on the couch. Rosalie and Em were sitting on the loveseat with their hands intertwined, Rosalie was staring of into space again with her head rested on Emmett's shoulder. Edward crouched over stuffing things into a large bag. "I don't have my car with me, I need a ride home..."

"I'll take you." It wasn't Alice who offered but her extremely attractive brother who wanted to give me a ride.

I was surprised that he would offer but Edward took my silence the wrong way. "It was just a suggestion, since I'm heading to the batting cages, I thought I might as well...you don't have to-"

"No," I responded a little too quickly. "That would be great, thanks."

He smiled at me and started walking out the door to his car. I sent my goodbyes and received some suggesive looks from Alice and Rosalie. Rolling my eyes at them I headed out the large house and down the front steps.

I looked up and spotted Edward closing the trunk door to a fancy silver Volvo. "Does everyone in this town have overly extravagant cars?" I muttered to myself.

Edward just laughed at me as we both climbed in and he started up the engine. The sound was quite compared to the roar of my truck.

"So I'm guessing you don't drive around in a Mercedes, am I right?"

"Nope, I have a Ferrari." Just then I looked out the window to see the trees passing by rapidly. I checked the speedometer and my eyes widened. "Slow down!"

He laughed at me. "I'm going 50..."

"It's a residential area! 25 is the speed limit!"

He sighed loudly and slowed the car to 35. "Better?"

"Much. Thank you. My dad is a cop I was raised to abide my the laws. If he caught you, you would be so dead."

"Then it's a good thing he didn't, right?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, just don't come crying to me when you end up with a speeding ticket."

He smirked, "I have my ways with the cops." I raised my eyebrow at him but he didn't say anything back. "So what do you really drive?"

"You don't believe I drive a Ferrari?"

"Not one bit." I scoffed at him. "Ferrari's are faster than Volvos, I highly doubt I'll see anybody going 3 miles per hour in a Ferrari."

"Good point." We laughed at how right he was. "What kind of car do you think I have?" I asked him curiously.

He smiled and looked thoughtful for a moment while turning left on the street. I studied his face carefully. "I don't know yet...I don't know you well enough, though I'm looking forward to knowing more."

I smiled at him, "I feel the same way." He looked over at me showing me his crooked grin. "So you play baseball?"

"Yeah, I'm on the team for school with Em and Jazz."

I nodded. "I'm sure I'll be coming to watch. Have your games started yet?"

The season starts next week. So that means this week is going to be full of long practices."

I giggled. "Well have fun with that."

He gave a half shrug, half nod before asking me which house belonged to me. "Right here on the left," I pointed. He slid the smooth car so it stopped directly in front of my house.

"Don't tell me. The red pick-up truck is _yours_?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

He shook his head,."Where did you even get it from?"

"Well we had to drive up here from Phoenix and on our way we passed by this small town and we saw the truck for sale...and my parents got it for me since I didn't get a car when I initially got my licence."

He nodded slowly, staring at my truck. "Does it..._work_?"

I slapped his arm, "Hey! Don't insult my baby! It's not that old, and yes, it runs just fine."

"I bet can't go over 60," he murmured.

I couldn't deny it, it probably didn't go faster than 50. "Why would I_ need_ to go over 60 anyway?"

He shrugged. "I guess with you there isn't."

"Exactly," I told at him smugly. "So I guess I'll see you tonight."

He nodded, smiling. "See you."

I stepped out of the leather seats and walked up to the front door of my recently acquired home. The door opened swiftly, my mother greeting me before I even had a chance to knock. I stepped into the house while waving goodbye to the shiny car and my newest friend.

"Hey, mom. How did you know-"

She cut me off, talking fast like she usually did. "I saw a car outside and looked to see who it was." I nodded but she looked at me, expecting more information from me. I looked at her confusingly. "Who was he?" she asked excitedly.

She looked just like Alice right then, practically bouncing. "Who?"

"That boy who dropped you off...who is he?"

I soon realized that she got the wrong idea. "Edward....he's Alice's brother."

She nodded. "He's cute."

"How could you even see him?" I responded, walking past her and setting my bag on the closest chair.

"He was cute from far away. And you didn't deny that he wasn't cute..." She was grinning now. I knew what she was thinking.

"No, mom. He's _just_ a friend."

"Okay, I believe you," she smiled at me. "So how was the sleepover?"

"It was great, really fun. The Cullen's are very inviting. You know, Alice's dad is a doctor, he works at the hospital near the school."

"Oh, right. I heard he's a great doctor. Well that's good, knowing you, you'll be there quite often." She joked.

I rolled my eyes a her although what she said was probably true. "I'm going to go upstairs..."

After taking a shower and getting dressed in some comfy clothes I came to the decision that I won't tell my parents about my date tonight, at least not fully.

If Renee got excited just because a boy gave me a ride home I'm sure she'd freak about me having a date. And it's not like I was going to go on another date with Mike. And if I explained the bet and why I wouldn't go on another date with Mike she'd have to hear about my other admirers and push me to pursue those verboten relationships.

And Charlie...well he'll just freak out if he found out his daughter had a date.

I sighed to myself and my eccentric mother and old-fashioned dad as I made my way downstairs to tell them about tonight.

I found my dad watching t.v. in one room and my mother in the kitchen getting a glass of water. "Mom," I called to her, she looked up and smiled at me. "So tonight I made plans with some people from school...I'll be back by my curfew, I promise." It wasn't really a lie, if you count going to Alice's house so Rose and her could get me ready as part of my plans then it wasn't a lie at all.

"Alright, you guys are just going to hang out?"

"Yeah, dinner...and we might see a movie."

She nodded, "Have fun, be back by 11:00."

"Hopefully I'll be back wayyy earlier than that," I muttered to myself, too low for her to hear.

-

-

"Hold still, Bella." Alice scolded.

I jerked away from the long object she held in her hand that was veering towards my face. "What are you doing with that thing?"

"It's called an eyelash curler, Bella. Just be patient and I'll be done soon." I sighed and settled further into the chair that was opposite the cosmetic mirror Alice owned.

Alice and Rosalie and picked out my outfit for my date with Mike and now Alice was doing my make-up and Rose was going to be doing my hair.

"Hey, Rose, you can start with her hair now," Alice called to Rosalie who sitting on her bed.

Rose didn't say anything nor did I hear her move. "Rose," Alice called out again, this time louder and she looked at her.

I turned to see Rosalie snap out of a kind of trance she seemed to be in. "Huh? What you'd say? Oh, Bella's hair, right."

I raised an eyebrow at her, clearly her mind was somewhere else. Of course Alice recognized it too, she crossed her arms and looked straight at Rose. "What's going on, you've been out of it all day."

Rose looked down. "It's nothing, I'm just thinking."

"Thinking? Yeah right. I know that face, it's about Em. Spill." Rose's face gave it away, she gave her a how-did-you-know? look. "Ha. It is about Emmett, see."

Just then I saw her face get red for the first time ever.

"Rosalie Hale, did you just blush? You never blush." Alice responded, interested in the whole situation. "This ought to be good. Tell me, now."

She shifted in her spot before starting. "I don't know how to explain it...just today, being with Emmett, the way he woke me up, all sweet and a goof at the same time...It made me think how deeply I feel about him. Throughout our whole relationship we've produced an undeniable connection. But what I'm not sure of is the extent of that...I-I think I'm in _love _with him."

Alice made a small screech and started jumping up and down. "Finally!"

"Finally? What did you expect?"

Alice rolled her eyes at her. "It's been three months since you've been officially together and ever since the first day you guys met I've been waiting for this time to come! It took you long enough!"

She giggled. "It seems so apparent to me now...how could I not love him! I trust him with my life, I don't know why I didn't felt it sooner."

They both squealed a bit more before getting up and going back to playing dress-up. Rosalie picked up a burning hot curler and stood beside me. While she took a strand through the heated metal I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"How do you _know_ when you're in love? How do you know you're not mistaking it for some other emotion or maybe you feel the love but don't even realize that it's love."

They both stopped what they were doing and smiled at my question. "I don't know how to explain it..." Alice began. "You just..._know_."

"It's so powerful it just knocks you off you're feet. Like today...the spacing out, blame it on love," Rose giggled.

I chewed on my lip, thinking about their words, it was like all the books and movies I seen. A hopeless romantic like me dreams about this stuff and experiencing it second hand, just watching two couples in love right before my eyes is better than any fiction.

About an hour later I was standing in the bathroom mirror catching my first glimpse of the entire make-over that was performed on me.

My long brown hair was just curled at bit at the ends due to Rosalie and my makeup was surprisingly not very noticeable and gave me a more natural look. I squeezed into a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a midnight blue chiffon blouse. I looked way different than usual, but I had to admit, it wasn't bad, I actually looked pretty good.

There was pair of ballet flats awaiting me, but after much battle I manipulated Alice and Rose into letting me wear my favorite pair of old white converse. The fact that they were now beige instead of the original paper white color they had when I first bought them made it harder for me to convince them into letting me wear it, but I succeeded with a smug look on my face.

I carefully opened the door and revealed myself to the queens of the fashion world. They both clapped excitedly and talked way too fast for me to understand their complements. Once they calmed down, threw me a sweater (and a grimace at my shoes) we exited Alice's room and entered the spacious Cullen family room. Emmett and Jasper were lounging on the couch talking to themselves when Rose cleared her throat to get their attention.

They greeted us like usual which seemed to upset Alice and Rose. They each gave their boyfriends a meaningful look. The guys looked clueless and started searching around to find what they did wrong. They glanced at me and looked away, but did a double take and looked again.

"Well look at Bella, all grown up!" Emmett boomed. Jasper agreed with him in a more refined way while I looked down, my face turning pink, of course.

"Does anybody want something to drink?" Edward called from the kitchen, though I could hear him getting closer. Just seconds later he emerged from the other room holding cans of soda. Setting them on the table he caught my appearence for the first time.

I watched carefully as his eyes grew slightly wider when he looked at me. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He had a small smile on his face. "You look...nice. Really nice." Edward shook his head vigorously as if agreeing with himself. I smiled a bit at his embarrassed look but mostly I just blushed harder. It was apparent his gaze landed on my shoes because I saw a grin plaster on his face when he saw my choice of shoes.

"Yes she does look nice except for the _shoes_!" Alice yelled at me.

"I like the shoes, it makes it you." Edward told me.

I turned an ever darker shade of red, cursing silently at my frequent involuntary reflexes to blushing.

"So, Eddie, looks like you're the only one not going out tonight," Emmett remarked.

"Thanks, Em. That makes me feel so much better."

"No problemo, so what are you going to be doing this evening? And if you say homework I swear-"

Edward interrupted him. "I missed a lot when I was gone, okay."

"You're unbelievable...Homework on a Saturday night!" Emmett shook his head.

"Don't you have a billion girls lining up to go on date with thee Edward Cullen?" Alice chirped.

"If you're talking about Tanya or Jessica..." Edward shuttered.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Just try my brother dearest. One night."

"Would _you_ like to go on a date with them?"

"If you haven't noticed I have a boyfriend and I prefer a men over women, thank you."

"I'm saying if _you_ were _me_, Shorty."

"God knows I would never want to be you," Alice muttered just loud enough for Edward to hear.

I held back my laughter as they continued their sibling bickering. "Are they always like this?" I asked Rose, Jasper, and Em.

"Oh yeah."

"All the time."

"24/7...you get used to it though."

I laughed at them and they finally finished their little fight, just then a honk of a car horn signaled Mike was here.

"Well now that you're done, I'm gonna go on my _date._" I told then through clenched teeth.

"Eager, are we?" Alice joked.

I grimaced. "Eager to get it over with."

-

-

Dinner went smoothly, or as smooth as it could be with Mike. We had some awkward silences, but overall, he's a nice person, funny, a little over excited, but a good friend. And just that. A good friend. It was obvious -at least to me- that we weren't compatible in any romantic way. I just hope he saw that too.

So here I sat, next to Mike, in a small theater watching a horribly made comedy. That's another thing I learned tonight, don't trust Mike's taste in movies...or any taste of his for that matter. My phone vibrated in the small purse I borrowed from Rose. Digging it out, I found it was a text message from Alice.

_How's it going!? Are the sparks flying!?_

I rolled my eyes to myself and quickly texted her back. _Nice guy...but friend material, for sure._

A moment after I pressed send it buzzed again. Mike looked over to see what I was doing. "Sorry," I mouthed to him. He made a silent gesture that said he didn't mind.

I looked down at the small device again to see Alice's response. _I see, does he feel the same way?_

_How would I know? _I texted her back.

_Look at his hand_. What? Look at his hand, what is she talking about? I peeked to my left and sure enough the hand closest to me seemed to have a twitch. I texted Alice back about his twitching hand, wondering why it mattered though.

_He's trying to hold you're hand, dumb ass! _Oh...now it made sense. Just then the hand moved to the arm rest in between us. I couldn't hold back the small giggle that escaped my lips. He shot a glance at me so I turned the giggle into a cough and looked back to the screen, biting my lip to stop my laughing.

-

-

"Thanks, Mike. I had a good time," I wasn't lying, it was enjoyable (especially watching his hand twitch for the last half of the movie.

He grinned back and nodded. "Me too! Maybe we can do this again sometime."

I made a nod that wasn't exactly a gesture that said "yes, for sure!" I just smiled tightly. "See you Monday...goodnight."

"Bye, Bella!"

I waved to him, making my way to the front door. Silently thanking God that he didn't try for a goodnight kiss.

His small car drove away and I searched my bag for my keys. Then I heard it.

Something that's been absent for years. My parents were in a fight...again. The yelling was just like before. When I was 13, Renee and Charlie were about to get a divorce, thankfully it never fell through.

But they didn't notice. They didn't notice the frequency of how I locked myself in my room and tried to drown out their loud noises. Or the times I cried myself to sleep, in fear of my family falling apart. They didn't notice how much of an impact it made for me, but I wasn't mad at them. The reason they stayed together in the first place was me. I was young and they didn't think I could take it, they sorted out their differences so they wouldn't make my nightmares come true, not that they knew hat I had nightmares about it. I didn't tell anybody about the problems, not my few friends I had then, and I didn't talk to either of my parents, thinking I would just make it worse.

I shoved the key into the slot and turned the knob, making my entrance known. I shuffled my feet loudly and passed by the room they occupied.

"Hey, Bells," they called to me as I came by.

I fake smiled at them. "Hey, um, I'm really tired, I'm gonna go to bed. 'Night."

"'Kay, goodnight," Renee told me. I hurried up the stairs into my room and closed the door tightly. Pressing my back up against the door and drew a large breath.

I tried to look on the bright side. Maybe it was just a one time thing, all married couples fight, it was normal.

So I continued my regular nightly routine, I really was tired, Alice didn't let me sleep all too much last night. After I was done and in my bed, I curled up under the covers and I couldn't help but have my pessimistic side take over.

It was the same kind of fight as before though. And now lately I barely ever caught them having a long, normal conversation. I knew Renee didn't want to move here, she loved Phoenix, but it was Charlie's job that didn't really give her a choice. Everything seemed fine before we moved here. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that history wouldn't repeat itself.

**Okay...so I hope it wasn't to melodramatic at the end there. But this Charlie/Renee thing is important. I'm not sure how almost divorced couples act, but if I made it horribly wrong, or have any tips...please, please inform me!!! **

**ANd the Rose/Em love thing...it's important for Bella to know about love and yeah that isn't really making sense...it only does in my head and since it's after one in the morning it's even worse**

**yeah...so this story is kind of slow right now, i know, but it's going to get more exciting, I assure you!! I really am bouncing like Alice for the chapters to come!! **

**I know there was something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember it and I bet the second after I post it I'll hit myself in the head and remember...**

**so all I have to say is REVIEW! **Pwitty pwease with a cherry on top! **:D**


	6. You Gotta Know

**Hello my lollies, sorry it took oh so long! Here's the next chapter, it includes some EPOV...not really his exact thoughts on everything, but i think you can guess a little bit of what he's really thinking from this short excerpt. Thanks my wonderful reviewers who give me motivation to write! **Twilighter** (an anonymous reviewer), your words are faaaar too kind, but thanks all the more!!**

**Yeah, this one's short but I really just needed to get it out there...now.**

**Without further ado...**

**BPOV**

"Why won't you work?!" I yelled at my truck's radio. I was driving to school and tried to turn on the radio but I got no music, only static.

Throughout the ride I was turning all the possible knobs and still nothing. I pulled up into the first empty space I saw on the parking lot, shifted the gear to park but kept the car on to try and fix the damn radio.

I was lost in my own world, punching the center of my car when someone banged on the window causing me to shriek.

I let out a long breath of relief when I saw it was only Edward standing there.

I opened the door with one hand while the other was placed on my rapidly beating heart. "Jesus, Edward! Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"Were you really worried that there was a murder in the middle of a crowded school parking lot?"

"You never know..."

"If anyone's going to be convicted of a murder I think it's you." I looked at him confusingly. "You looked like you were killing your car there."

"It's the stupid radio!"

"I told you it was too old to function," he muttered.

I shot a glare at him. "You know what...it's _your_ fault the radio doesn't work."

He scoffed, "How could it possibly be my fault?"

"Because you insulted it when you first saw it, and now it's mad!"

"How could it know I insulted it?"

"It can hear...and has feelings too!"

"If it did have ears, I bet it would need a hearing aid because it's so old!"

"Sure, like our Volvo has superhuman hearing!"

"It probably does!" We were silent for about two seconds until we burst out into loud laughter.

"Were we seriously arguing over the hearing level of our _cars_?" Edward asked during pants of laughter. I nodded, still giggling.

"What are you guys doing?" I heard a voice ask.

Alice, Em, Rose and Jasper came walking up to my car where Edward and I were still shaking with laughter. He held onto my door frame for support and I leaned against my seat.

"Seriously, what are you doing? People are starting to stare," Alice told us.

We both took long breaths controlling ourselves and just looked at each other, smiling. "Its nothing..."

She narrowed her eyes at him. But he didn't say anything else so she turned to me. I just shrugged. "My radio isn't working."

"Is that supposed to be a metaphor for something?"

"Yeah, it means Bella's car is too old," Edward murmured.

I glared at him. "You better shut up or else-" I was cut off by the loud shrill of the school bell.

He smirked, "Saved by the bell."

I rolled my eyes. "You're so lame."

"Thanks," he grinned at me.

-

-

"Will someone please tell me what the hell this is?" Emmett said, poking his lunch meal with a plastic fork.

I peeked over at the solid substance on his plate. "Ew," was all I said before Emmett slide his plate as far from him as possible.

"Hey guys," Edward said as he settled himself into an empty chair.

"Baseball?" Alice asked him simply.

He sighed loudly. "Yup. Coach Clapp decided he wants to keep working me until I pass out."

"Well he does have a reason, you did miss two weeks..."

"Yeah, two weeks of nonstop baseball."

Emmett nodded to himself, "true."

All too soon the we heard the loud signal for us to disperse to class. We went our separate ways as usual but when I turned to start towards north side of the cafeteria I realized Edward was walking in the same direction.

"Are you going this way too?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm going to Bio."

"With Mr. Banner?" He just nodded.

I stood there, shocked. "Wait, your in my class?"

"I am?"

"Well since I have Banner fifth period I think that means were in the same class."

"No way."

"Way." I mocked him in a valley girl voice. He elbowed me playfully as we walked into the classroom and I made my way to the back where I sat for the past two weeks.

"What are you doing?" I asked Edward as he just stood there looking at me.

"You sit here?"

"Yeah..."

A smile started to creep on his face, "Were lab partners."

"No way."

"Way," he quoted me.

"You have to be kidding me."

"Would I really be that bad of a lab partner?" he said with fake sadness.

I rolled my eyes, "you know what I mean." We took our respected seats and waited until class started.

"Nice to have you back Mr. Cullen. Hopefully you've caught up on all your missed work because there is a big test coming up this Friday." Mr. Banner said tapping the desk before walking back to his own.

I groaned, throwing my head back. "Ugh. A big test."

"You don't like Biology?" Edward pondered.

"It's okay I guess, just...confusing."

"How about we study together," he then added quickly, "if you want."

"Yeah," I said too eagerly. "That would be good."

He nodded his head and before he could say anything else Mr. Banner started his lecture.

-

-

It was now Wednesday evening and I was heading over to the Cullen's so I could go study with Edward. I smiled at the thought as I pulled my truck up into their long drive and changed the shift into park. I knocked three times before Alice swung open the door. "Hey, Bella! What are you doing here?"

"Is that really a way to talk to your friend, Alice?" I said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes but before she could say anything Edward came to stand beside her and greeted me. "Bella, come in, we should get started."

"Wait, what?" Alice looked at us with knitted eyebrows. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're going upstairs to start an 'Anti-Alice Club'." Edward told her with a smile.

She just stuck her tongue out at him, "Seriously though, what are doing?"

I waved the Biology book in her face. "Studying for Bio."

"Oh," for some reason her face then light up, "well you two kids have fun." Then she winked before walking away.

Edward and I looked at each other, not knowing what that was supposed to mean. "Excuse my sister, she's a psycho."

"I heard that!" Alice exclaimed from the other room.

"You were supposed to!" Edward retorted. He turned to me. "Come on, let's go up to my room."

I followed Edward up the long staircase and turned left only to be met my a white painted door. "Sorry it's a little messy," he said before turning the knob and walking through the door frame.

There were so many things. It was both clean and disorganized at the same time - if that's even possible. There was large bed that sat directly across a long black leather couch. Covering the walls were shelves of books and music. A _lot _of music. "Wow, you have _so_ much music."

He shrugged. "You can never get tired of music." I just stared intently at the collections he had, I noticed they were even in order. "See something you like, you mention the classics before?"

"I just have a few favorites, nothing too exciting. Besides that I don't really listen to music that much..." I trailed off.

He stood there, shocked. "Seriously? How can you not? It's...you just need to listen." He walked over to a shelf and picked and out a few albums. "Here. These are my favorites, go home and listen-"

"It's okay, I'm good-"

He refused. "_No_. Take them, you need to listen." I just looked down at the many complicated drawings on the different covers.

"Have you at least heard of these bands?"

"I know _of_ them, but I don't really know the music."

"Well be glad I'm here then."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's start studying before your ego grows even more."

-

-

"What is 'dehydration synthesis'?" Edward challenged me after hours of making flash cards and constant studying.

I sighed, "dehydration synthesis is when a molecule of water is lost."

"And that forms what?"

"A peptide bond between two amino acids."

"How do you break the peptide bond?"

"By adding water."

"Which is called...?"

"Hydrolysis." We shot back questions and answers at each other like this for all long time, to the point where I had no clue what I was even saying. "Do you always study for this long?"

He laughed. "Sometimes, it depends on the subject." I think we're done for today."

"No wonder you're so good at Bio and I'm so...not. I hope I can raise my grade with this test."

"With my superb tutoring skills, you'll do fine."

"I should go before your head too big. Not to mention it's getting late." He told me he'd walk me out so we both rose from our spots and made our way out of his room.

"Bye, Alice!" I yelled from the front door. I heard her rush out of her room and down the stairs. "You're still here?" I nodded. "Oh, well that's good because you were about to get an angry text from me about how you didn't say bye when you left... But never mind." She just smiled.

"Bye, Alice," I said waving my hand right in front of her face. I took my set of Edward's favorite albums with me tucked under my arm. "I'll take good care of them. Bye, Edward."

"See you tomorrow, Bells." I grinned inwardly at his use of a nick name for me before riding back home in my rusty old truck.

**EPOV**

Oh, _crap_. Should I not have called her 'Bells'? It's too personal, we just meet and her face _definitely_ changed when I said that. Oh, _crap_. Crap! Maybe I'm just over thinking things, yeah, that's it...but what if-

"So what did you guys do up there for so many hours?" Alice's excitement cut off my paranoid thoughts.

"I told you, we were studying."

She sighed, "Come on, Edward! You had to do something besides study!"

"Well we didn't."

"Not even an accidental touch?"

"What does that even mean?"

"You didn't accidentally reach for the same book and you're hands touched and then there was this electricfying spark-"

"Alice!" I interrupted her before she got too carried away.

"Nothing?" she asked once again.

I shook my head at my crazy sister. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not, so _goodnight_." And with that I turned away and walked up to my room, shutting the door behind me.

**Okay, not really fond of this chapter. I know a lot didn't go on...and for some reason I feel like it's unfinished but I truly couldn't find more to write in this point of time. **

**Yes, E&B continue their playful banter...but i think that actually makes them closer, being able to be sarcastic and joke around is important in every relationship. **

**I have the next couple chapters in my head already (and not to spoil anything but they B&E ****will**** be getting together by...chapter 10-ish ---I 'm not positive though). **

**It's weird becaase I always think of scenes wayyyy ahead of where it is right now, lately it's been one that takes place about 7 years later then they are now in the story. Which doesn't make sense because this story isn't jumping far ahead any time soon. (like never) well now that I',m rambling about nonsense, I'll just stop! XD**

**I didn't mention specific music because everyone has different taste in music...but this Edward I know his favorites (alternative bands) if you want to know what I had in mind, just say it, I highly reccomend listening to them! :) **

**I really am trying to get the chapters out faster...now that it's summer break hopefully I can!!!**

the more reviews I get the faster my fingers hit the letters. review, please? :)


	7. Unfold

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does.  
*ducks and tries to dodge the things being thrown at me* First off, SORRY! Gahh, i really wanted this to be posted like a month ago but I got sooo busy! and i hate excuses but i have a pretty legit one...SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS. who the hell gives homework in the summer? yeah, I had to write ten pages on a book. booo. i know, it sucks. but know I'm back I really DO plan on updating more frequently! i promise! and if I don't then feel free to keep on nagging me to update! everytime someone tells me to do so, i start writing like crazy. (and this chapter is double the length of the last one;))  
shoutout to _Mrs. Edward B Cullen and Reeney-Twilightlover_ for giving me the best reviews everrrrr. :)  
go on and read! :D**

**BPOV**

I turned the knob to the right even more so my newly acquired music swallowed the hushed argument my parents were currently having, though it wasn't the first time. For some reason, even though their voices were lowered, my mind tended to focus on only that sound than any other.

So with the music blaring from the speakers, I looked down at my study questions while my hands went to my temples, massaging them lightly. My mind then drifted to Edward, our studying along with his favorite music.

_Focus!_ I told myself. I took a deep breath and muttered Biology notes to myself. Edward passed on his study technique to me in hopes of getting a good grade on our big Biology test tomorrow.

A loud beep sounded against the noise of the current guitar strums coming from CD player distracted me from my studies. I reached over and retrieved my cell phone. I saw his name flash upon the screen felt myself brighten a little. I mentally slapped myself before pressing the button to read the message.

_Studying hard?_ It read.

I smiled quickly, texting back, _Hardly studying._

Just seconds later it beeped again. _Well that's not going to raise your grade._

_That's why I've been studying non stop for hours._

_Are my ideas working?_ He replied.

_You'll be happy to hear that the music thing really does help._

I rolled my eyes at his following message._ I know...I'm that smart. It's okay, no need to thank me._

_Is it weird that I can actually see your head expand over a text?_

_Yup. Definitely weird._ I giggled at his reponse.

_You know, your distracting me._

_Maybe that was my plan this whole time..._

_I'm appalled, I know your cocky...but not mean._

_Shut-up and go back to studying._

_I do not appreciate such violent language._

_Would you appreciate a ride to school tomorrow? I actually have a working radio in my car._

_Maybe I like silence when I'm driving._

_Well then maybe you shouldn't take the offer, I have a loud sister who doesn't ever seem to be silent._

_Ooo, you're in trouble. I'm totally going to tell her about that one._

_Now I'm scared. Is that a yes or a no?_

_Yes, I would love the honor of getting a ride in your shiny Volvo._

_Then you'll see me and my shiny Volvo tomorrow at 7:30._

_See you then. Goodnight, Edward._

'_Night, Bella._

I found myself grinning throughout the whole conversation. Sighing, I glanced at the clock and realized it was getting late. Putting away my phone and my books, I got ready for bed without turning the music off.

My mind wandered off to the reason the music was on so loud in the first place. Charlie and Renee. I pressed the pause button and fortunately, I heard silence. I opened the door and quietly walked down the stairs to see my mom sitting at the counter with a cup of tea, staring blankly into space.

"Mom?"

She jumped lightly out of her trance. "Oh, I didn't see you there, Bella. Do you want some tea?"

"No thanks." She looked different, like she was out of it. "I'm going to sleep now, big test tomorrow."

She smiled at me. "You're so responsible, I feel like I don't ever even have to take care of you."

I nodded awkwardly. "Where's dad?"

Her expression changed slightly at my question and I felt a tightening in my heart. "He's upstairs."

"Okay, tell him a say goodnight."

She nodded. "Go get some sleep,

A loud honk sounded from outside my house. I quickly downed my glass of milk before grabbing my backpack and swinging the door open. I called out a goodbye to my mom, Charlie left early again for work.

Edward's Volvo looked shinier than ever as it was parked directly in front of my house. I climbed into the back as Alice occupied the passenger seat. I was immediately bombarded by Alice's cheerful greetings.

"Hey guys. Thanks for the ride." I told them.

"Of course, were going to the same place and it's on the way." I smiled at Edward as Alice shook her head in agreement.

"Thanks, Im surprised you didn't make some remark about my 'old truck.'"

He placed his hand over his heart and his face expressed mock pain. "I would never do such a thing!" I smacked his head playfully while Alice just rolled her eyes, watching us. "I'm growing impatient," Alice announced.

"Why?" Edward asked her.

"Because of your cluelessness."

"Is that even a word?." Edward asked her.

Alice groaned. "Nevermind. You two are so blind."

"Are you going to fill us in, Alice?"

She sighed. "You'll find out soon...hopefully."

Edward and I shared an absolutely lost look but dropped it, we grew used to Alice's idiosyncrasies.

We all sat at our usual table at lunch time but today Edward and I sat close so we could look over Biology notes and review before the test. "I can't believe you, Edward." Emmett said randomly during lunch.

Edward looked up at him confusingly. "What did I do?"

"It's bad enough that my best friend is a nerd, now you have to turn Bella into one too!"

I laughed as Edward just rolled his eyes. "This is big test and I'm helping her study."  
Smiling at him I thanked him for all the tips and help he's given me. He grinned and politely assured me it was no trouble.

"Well this is different. you're actually being nice to each other." Alice claimed after our brief exchange.

We both looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"I'm expecting some smart-ass remarks you too fire at each other."

We all laughed at this. "What are you talking about?!" Edward exclaimed. "Bella and I are always nice to each other!" As he said this he draped his arm around my shoulder, showing how well we get along.

"Yeah, all I do is compliment him and he tells me how much important I am to him!" I put my arm around him as well and we both plastered on a huge smile.

Everyone rolled their eyes and chuckled at us. "Better watch out there, Edward. Someone's jealous of the way your proximity to Bella." Jasper informed him, his gaze behind our heads, on another table.

On instinct, we both looked in the same direction as him. I noticed a familiar looking girl. Strawberry blonde hair and perfectly tanned skin. I had definitely seen her around before, I think we even had a few classes together but never actually met her. From the groan Edward made it seemed she wasn't his favorite person.

"Who is she?"

"Edward's lover."

"Shut-up, Rose." Edward retorted and she glared at her. Everyone laughed at him.

"Please fill me in." I said, intrigued.

Alice decided to tell the story of this blonde girl. "Her name is Tanya. She's a fake plastic bimbo who also happens to be in love with Edward."

"She's not in love with me."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Sure, but her passionate infatuation for you hasn't died down after the many times to told her no."

"Well he's actually he's never said 'no' per se." Emmett piped in.

Edward scoffed. "Yes I have!" He earned a look from Em that made him cross his arms. "Okay, so not in so many words. But what my other word choice would have suited any other person as a 'no.'"

"So let me see if I understand." I announced. "This Tanya is in lo- I mean is infatuated with Edward and doesn't take the hint that he's not interested?"

"Yup, that's it." Jasper told me.

"And right now she's giving me a death glare because I am 'close' to Edward?"

"You catch on quick."

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me when Edward looked down in hopes of hiding from this Tanya girl when he noticed she got up and started sauntering towards our table.

"Edward! I haven't talked to you for so long! How are you!?" I almost laughed at how stereotypically blonde her voice was. High-pitched and squeaky with every vowel elongated. This is the first time I met her and I could tell she was cocky and always got what she wanted. I wasn't impressed.

"I'm good, Tanya, thanks." I rolled my eyes, I don't think Edward could ever be the slightest bit mean to a girl, no matter what.

The girl narrowed her eyes at me and carefully took in my appearance. "Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

"Sure." Edward turned to me with a 'kill me now' look before formally introducing us. "Bella this is Tanya, Tanya this is Bella."

I smiled politely. "Nice to meet you."

She just put on a fake grin, showing off her perfect, white teeth. "You're the new girl, right?"

"She's from Arizona" Edward told her.

"Which is a state," Rosalie added.

"In America," Alice continued.

We all held in giggles as Tanya glared at Rosalie and Alice. She turned back to Edward. "I have to go. I'll see you later, Edward." Although she was talking to him, she looked a me pointedly while doing so.

When she finally walked away I looked at the rest of my friends. "I'm not sensing a great vibe from her, but I probably shouldn't judge, I don't really know her, she could be nice."

"Could being the key word," Alice muttered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure your first impression of her will last." Rosalie said.

I looked at both Alice and Rosalie. "You guys didn't look too fond of her either, especially you, Rose."

"Let's just say she gives blondes a bad name."

-

-

My leg started shaking against the desk as I waited in anticipation for Mr. Banner to pass out the tests. "Bella! Calm down, you'll do fine!" Edward whispered to me, noticing the movement of our lab table.

I put my leg to rest. "Sorry, I'm just a little nervous."

He looked at me right in the eye. "You studied more than enough, stop stressing!"

I nodded and took a deep breath. I always freaked out about tests, it was just my nature. Finally the packet landed in front of me, Edward and I looked at each other, both mouthing a 'good luck'.

_Number one,_ I thought in my head. _What are the building blocks of proteins? Easy, I know that one! Amino acids!_ I carefully wrote it in on my answer sheet. _Okay, number two. What are the main factors that alter the speed of enzymatic reactions?_ Shoot. _Okay, it's temperature, ph balance, and..._ I racked my brain to think of the answer. _Oh no, I don't know this! I don't know any of this!_ I practically jumped when I realized what I was missing. _Yes! It's concentration!_

After all seventy five questions, I looked it over once more. After going through some difficult problems again I saw Edward get up and turn in his test. I looked back down and focused on my last few.

Once I made sure all the answers were filled in and I didn't skip any I stood up and walked over to Banner's desk and handed it to him. I turned around and saw Edward smirking at me.

"What?" I asked him in a hushed voice.

"Oh come on, you know what I'm talking about, you just don't want to admit it." Edward said back, before returning to his doodles in his notebook.

I scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

Just as he opened his mouth to talk we were interrupted. "No talking until all the tests are turned in." Mr. Banner called out with a quick glare at us. I looked down as a flood of heat came to my face.

I heard Edward chuckle faintly before he slide his notebook to me. I picked up the notebook to see that he had written something on there.

_The test was easy and you know it. You had nothing to worry about._

I smiled to myself a little bit but quickly wrote back under his elegant script. _It wasn't _that_ easy. _He just looked at me and rolled his eyes. Just then the bell rang for class to be dismissed.

We walked to sixth period together, as we did everyday now, since I had gym and he had baseball, which were both in the same area.

When we reached the locker rooms, he told me he'd meet me in the parking lot since he was my ride home and we went our separate ways. Before I knew it, Gym was over -thank the heavens- and I quickly got changed and made my way to the Volvo.

All three guys were standing near Edward's car as well as Emmett's huge Jeep. All tree of them greeted me and we waited for Alice and Rose to get back. "How'd your test go, Bella?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't horrible. The grades will be posted tomorrow."

"Bella, I'm positive you did well," Edward assured me.

I smiled back at him just before Alice and Rosalie came over to were we stood my the cars. We talked a little bit more before we scattered in our different cars. Edward and Alice dropped me off at my house which I came home to find empty.

About an hour later I heard my mom walk though the door. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, Bells. How was your day?"

I nodded walking over to the sink to get a glass of water. "The test was pretty easy..."

"What test?"

I glanced at her and she looked positively confused. I could sworn I told her about the test yesterday. She always remembered, she always checked in on my school work, she always reassured me I would do great on a test. Always.

I bit the inside of my mouth while watching the clear glass full up slowly with water. "You know, the Biology test I told you about last night." I could tell she was replaying last nights events to see if she remembered. "The one I went over to the Cullen's to study for..."

"Oh, right." She shook her head but I wasn't completely fooled. "So you said it was easy, that's good."

"Yup." I muttered still facing away from her, looking at the transparent liquid that filled the cup in my hand.

My mind drifted back to years prior when my parents were having marriage problems. I took a deep breath and went up to my room, shutting the door. I pressed play on my CD player and soon my small room was filled with Edward's favorite melodies.

I stayed in the my corner of the house for almost the whole night.

And I was bored as hell.

Though I did make the decision that I would take Alice up on her offer of redecoration my room. After all, I was spending so much time in there it should look remotely nice. Something other than the plain white walls.

It was about eight-oh-clock right now and I was totally engrossed in my favorite Jane Austen novel. That's when heard a loud door slam coming from across the hall that quickly tore me away from_ Pride and Prejudice_. I could hear footsteps walking down the stairs. I stared at the door until the noise of the footsteps silenced.

I ran my hands through my hair before focusing back to rereading about Mr. Darcy. After about an hour later, I finished the whole book and set it down and got up, stretching my legs. I walked down the staircase and found my dad removing the cousins from the pull out couch, setting up a bed.

It dawned on me then and I swallowed hard. They couldn't even sleep in the same room. She slammed the door on him. I suddenly had a headache.

"Hey, Dad, can I go over to Alice's house?' I asked him, I wanted to get out, just for a little and that was the only place I could think of.

He was surprised to hear my voice and when I saw him he looked so...tired. "Right now? Um, sure, I guess. Don't stay too long though, it's already late."

"I won't. I'll be back soon, don't worry." And I left as quickly as I could and got out of the tension filled house before crawling into the confides of my truck. Twisting the key, the loud engine roared and I jumped at the sound. The silence of the car got me thinking again.

And so it all restarted. I was positive. The fighting, the yelling, everything. It was emotionally and physically stressful on both of them. It felt different this time around. Before I was young, I didn't notice how much it effected them. How much it effected me. I felt like I had to do something. I don't know what, but something. I wanted to just stop it. Stop it all.

Maybe I was just overreacting. It could just be a phase, a passing thing. With the move and everything, maybe it they just it a rough spot. I tried to convince myself it wasn't as big as I was making it out to be.

But there was also that nagging that told me I was wrong. It was a big deal. All the signs pointed there. I was completely torn, and I didn't like the feeling.

By the time my inner conflict ended I was pulling into the Cullen's driveway. I took a deep breath before stepping out. I'll just tell Alice I wanted to make plans for my room; she'll be excited and won't ask the real reasons behind my actions.

I rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds until it opened and revealed someone I was expecting. "Edward. Hi." I smiled weakly at him. "Is Alice home?"

It seemed like his joyful expression fell a little when I mentioned Alice. "No, she's on a date with Jasper."

"Oh, right. You know-I-I should just go..." What was I doing here anyways? It wouldn't do any good. I don't know what I was thinking.

Edward interrupted my thoughts. "Wait! Why don't you just stay...you drove all the way over here already...you might as well. I'm not busy, we could just chill in my room...if you want, I mean you don't have to but it's up to you."

I smiled as he rambled. I bit my lip, thinking. _Better than going back home._ "Sure, that sounds good."

He grinned at me and opened the door further, inviting me in. I stepped into the now familiar house and breathed in the warm scent. It was so comfortable here, welcoming and warm. We walked up the stairs and I entered his room for the second time.

I went straight for the shelf that was even better equipped than a music store. I ran my finger across the CDs organized side by side. "Did you like the ones I gave you?" I heard him say from behind.

I didn't stop staring at his collection as I answered him. "I loved them. The music really helps for concentration... It's nice to study and read with it in the background."

"I'm glad." He said from the other side of the room. Suddenly I could feel his presence next to me as I still searched his collection. "I-uh, I actually made a mix CD for you."

"Really? You didn't have to-"

He silenced me. "It's no big deal, I just put my top twenty on it," he shrugged indifferently. I thanked him again before I sat down on the long leather couch that lay opposite the bed. He walked over to his iPod speaker and soon the room was filled with music.

"Oh, I remember this one!" I exclaimed as soon as I recognized the familiar tune.

He chuckled at me. "Your thoughts?"

"I like it a lot. It's really sad, but I like it nonetheless." We listened to the song in silence for a few seconds. "You know the best part of listening to music?" He motioned me to go on. "When you just listen to the lyrics and have this little epiphany as to what the song actually means."

"I agree. Finding the meaning to the whole thing makes the song entirely better."

I nodded. "Exactly. It's amazing how artists can express themselves in that way."

He grinned. "Is English your favorite subject?"

"How'd you guess?"

He shrugged. "Most people listen to music for the beat but you like analyzing it like it's English class." We laughed at how observant he was and exactly right. "Can I ask you a question?"

I shook my head. "Of course."

"Is...are you okay?" I tensed, not expecting him to say that. I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry." He apologized once he saw my expression. "That's none of my business. I was just wondering since you seem...a little different, like something's bothering you. But -um- nevermind."

I didn't think he would notice. I've never told anybody about my parents' marriage problems. "Bella?" Edward asked me from his spot on the bed. I looked up at him. "Just so you know - and I'm trying not to sound like a therapist or something - but if you ever want to talk to somebody, I'm a good listener."

I smiled at Edward and saw the truth of his words in his eyes. I let out a big gust of air and just began talking. It surprised Edward and even surprised me. I told him all about my parents. Their problems when I was younger and my suspicions I have now and I let him see something I rarely show to anyone.

Vulnerability.

I try to be the person that is brave and can handle things. But I let Edward see my fear and he did the best thing he could in return; nothing.

Edward couldn't sympathize and I didn't want pity. That's one of the reasons I never told anybody. All anyone would do was just feel sorry for me.

"Well lucky for you, I can't emphasize..." It was true. Esme and Carlisle were the perfect couple. "But, I do know someone who can." I knitted my eyebrows, "Who?"

"Emmett."

"Really?" I said, surprised.

He nodded. "His parents divorced when he was 10." I winced slightly at the word "divorce". I don't know why, obviously I knew there's a high possibility it might happen to my parents but just thinking of the word seemed so final.

"And how did he deal with it?"

He shrugged. "He was younger so he didn't understand it to the fullest. He moved here with his mom after they separated and that's how we met him."

Before I could say anything else, Alice came to the doorway of Edward's room, all dressed up from her date with Jasper. "What are you guys doing? And please don't say you're studying. You just had a test today, there's no point in-"

"Alice!" Edward and I said at the same time, we exchanged a look about Alice before I reassured her of her worries. "We aren't studying, relax."

"Oh. Then what were you doing?"

Edward spoke up this time. "If you need to know, Miss Nosey, we're just talking."

"Talking?" Alice questioned as if we offered her some far-fetched explanation.

I nodded slowly. "Yes, talking. Ever heard of it?"

"It's that thing you do very frequently and tends to annoy people..." Edward said, making me giggle.

Alice stuck her tongue out at both of us. "No one ever said sarcasm is a likeable trait in someone."

"No one ever said it's not." Edward shot back at his sister.

She rolled her eyes and glared at me while I continued to giggle. I pressed my lips together in a tight line, trying to stop my laughter. She crossed her arms over her chest and walked out of the room. I realized the time and I started to stand up. "It's late, I should go." I told to Edward who then offered to walk me out. We went down the hallway and I stopped at Alice's room. "Bye loser face." I called to her.

"Goodnight dork head." She said back.

Edward and I laughed and made our way to the front door. He opened the door for me and I stepped half way out. "Thank you Edward for putting up with my spontaneous visit."

He grinned. "You are welcome for spontaneous visits anytime."

I giggled and twisted my body to walk out but immediately turned back around and made the few steps to stand right in front of him and I wrapped my arms around his waist. "Thank you... for listening to me. It really helped."

His arms did the same around me and he squeezed slightly. "I don't know how I helped, but I'll be more than happy to do it anytime." We pulled away and smiled at each other.

"Oh and I'll get you those CDs back, I promise." I told him.

"Don't worry about it." He shrugged it off. "I trust you."

My smile grew bigger at his words and we waved goodbye and I went to my truck and drove home with a smile on my face the whole time. When I parked my car in front of my house I stayed sitting there for a few seconds.

I finally let myself admit I felt something different towards Edward than I felt towards Emmett or Jasper or any other guy. _It's not like those feeling are mutual._ I thought as I stepped out of my truck and walked into my house to find my dad asleep on the sofa with the television still on. Without waking him up, I carefully got the remote and pressed the power off.

I took a deep breath, all I could do is wait for everything to unfold.

**Alright...hopefully it didn't suck too bad. any questions or critisism...please let me know!  
ALSO. when i first named the title of the story, i thought of it in about 2 seconds because i was just itching to get the first chapter out so....should I change the title???? or just keep it?? if i should change it...give me ideassss please!  
that should be all...OH, WAIT. okay you see that tiny little rectangular box down below. yeah...click on that and then write...anything, really. :)))) thank you!! REVIEW, por favor! :D**


	8. Show Me What I'm Looking For

**Don't worry, I hate myself more than you hate me.**

**I don't even want to count how long it's been - my laziness is just super uncool, I apologize. So this chapter is finally here, and I really hope to get the next one out soon. I promise to never ever give up on this story though. However long it may take, it **_**will **_**be finished. If I ever go back on my word, feel free to murder me in my sleep.**

**Without further ado; chapter 8.**

BPOV

"Will you try and not burn me, please?"

Rose sighed. "Quit being melodramatic, Bella. I've done this many times before. Just be patient."

I waited as she put a steaming iron next to my head. Some friend.

"What is Bella complaining about now?" Alice came through the doorway of her room.

"She wants to start a boycott against hair curling." Rosalie said while holding a strand of hair in the curling iron.

Alice walked towards us, already in her black tights and sweater dress. "You can start a boycott against curling your hair all you want," she stated simply. I looked at her, disbelieving. "It doesn't exclude the use of make-up."

She smirked and I groaned. "Why must I endure such torture?" They were about to answer -probably with some smart ass remark- but was interrupted by Emmett.

He walked in, big muscles and all, looking at my current state with confusion. "What are you doing to Bella?" He paused. "You know what…never mind. I don't want to know all your weird girl stuff. But can you please hurry up! We want to leave soon…actually-" he checked his wrist watch, "we wanted to leave ten minutes ago, so can we please book it?"

"Beauty takes time, honey. Be patient."

"Not with you, Rosie. Its called natural beauty." Emmett grinned, clearly pleased with his compliment.

"Nice try, Em but it's not going to work. Why don't you go downstairs and play video games or something while you're waiting." Rosalie replied.

Emmett sighed but obviously agreed. Once he left the room Alice make a noise that sounded like a whip cracking which was soon drowned by our giggles.

EPOV

Emmett walked back down stairs before plopping back on the couch next to Jasper and I. "What's the verdict?"

"They said their not ready, or even close to it." We all sighed and relaxed further into the couch.

"What's taking them so long?" Jasper asked impatiently.

Emmett shrugged. "I don't know. Rose was holding some hot thing in Bella's hair and Alice had a really weird device in her hand. And to me, it looked like it was heading for Bella's eye. I don't get the stuff they do."

We stared at our friend, unsure of the proper response. Jasper furrowed his eyebrows at looked at me. "I'm not understanding what you're trying to say but, whatever they're doing to Bella probably has to do with a curling iron and make-up."

'Dude, how do you know that?" Emmett questioned me. "Only gay guys would know that kind of stuff."

Jasper chuckled but turned his attention to the TV. I rolled my eyes. "It's common sense, Emmett."

"Common sense to gay guys…" Jasper added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that's true." Emmett nodding his head at Jazz. "Are you gay, Edward?'

"Seriously? Are you really-? I-I'm not even going to answer that."

"Why not? It's just a question. Don't be afraid to say yes, man. We don't judge."

I buried my face in my hand. "No, I'm not gay, Emmett."

"Are you sure? 'Cuz you've never had a girlfriend, hell, you've never even kissed a girl-"

"Emmett! I'm not gay."

"Some people need to think about it before they decide for sure. You know, play the field-"

"Emmett!"

"Well you don't know for sure-"

"Yes I do!"

"How?"

"If I was gay, I wouldn't be attracted to Bella!" I blurted out of frustration and annoyance. Emmett and Jasper just stared at me, the room completely silent. I felt myself slowly start to turn pink, I looked down, avoiding their gaze. "I-uh-forget I said that."

They both scoffed at me. "Edward, do you know who was most surprised when you said that?" I opened my both but Jasper answered for me. "You."

"What are you talking about?"

"Everyone can see the thing you two have -well except for you and Bella-" Jasper told me.

Emmett nodded fervently. "Even I can tell. And that's really saying something."

I put my hands to my face once again, avoiding their gaze. "There's nothing between us, okay? Why can't you get it through your thick skulls?"

"Edward. You just said, plainly and clearly, you like Bella."

"I didn't say I like her-" They gave me a death look, I sighed dramatically. "Fine. Whatever. It doesn't even matter anyway. She doesn't 'like' me"

They groaned. "Please get this through _your_ thick skull," Jasper said. " Ask. Her. Out."

"Soon." Emmett added.

I looked at them both. "No." They made more frustrated sounds again. "Just drop it, alright?"

"Drop what?" Alice questioned as she began down the stairs.

"Nothing," I said too eagerly.

Bella looked at us suspiciously. _Real intelligent_, Edward, I thought to myself. Fortunately, she just smiled back, "Hey."

"You ready?"

"According to Alice and Rose, I am."

I chuckled. "I'm glad you passed the test, we should probably get going." I said, nodding to the door. She listened and we walked slowly to through the front entrance together. Emmett interrupted our conversation -again- by yelling at us to hurry up. He was in the drivers seat which surprised me. "I thought we agreed I was going to drive!"

"First of all, I never agreed. And besides, I got here first." he said with a triumphant smirk. I rolled my eyes and grumbled as I opened the back door. "You have got to be kidding me." Alice and Jasper giggled from the first row of back seats. "We get the very back? You know I hate the third row!"

Alice shrugged and repeated Emmett's words about being too slow. I glared at my four friends who occupied the front row seats. "You guys suck. I hate the back too." Bella spoke up. They all remained unchanged. I let out a large sigh and pulled down the seat to create a walkway to get to the back. Bella went in first and I followed. "What is all this?" Bella asked, referring to the stuff placed on one of the three spots in the back.

"I like to keep extra stuff in here, just in case," Emmett answered.

"Well can I move it to the trunk? It's taking up room."

"The trunk is full too. There's two seats empty back there and two people, it shouldn't be a problem." Bella mumbled something unintelligible and we settled into our seats. I found that because of the limited room, our legs were touching. I pretended to not notice it and just looked elsewhere.

BPOV

We began our long drive with music and talking of course. I was so tired since Alice and Rose made me get up early and get "fixed up." We were going on a day trip to Port Angeles, not prom. After a little bit, my eyes started to feel heavy and I stopped resisting the urge to fall asleep. My body slumped down into an immensely comfortable position.

EPOV

I stared down at the brown locks that leaned against my shoulder. No one seemed to notice that Bella was cuddling into me, not that I minded at all. Everyone else was either sleeping or being couple-ly. Plus, I didn't want to wake Bella with my talking. I decided on playing some game on my phone which made me feel drousy. I pressed the exit button and closed my eyes and in an instant, I was unconcious.

"They're so cute!" Alice giggled. My eyes fluttered open at the high pitched sound. I regretted though for they were immediately met with a bright flash.

"Alice, what the hell are-"

"Shh! Don't wake her up!" Alice whispered as she perched on her seat.

She had a camera in hand was smiling down on me. It wasn't until then when I realized that I had my arms around something warm and soft with an amazing scent. I looked down and saw those familiar brown hair reared against my chest. Bella slept with her head buried into my shirt and secured by my arm around her shoulder. I could feel my face growing pink just from looking at her.

"Aww, so cute." Alice exclaimed once again. I glared at her and she sat forward in her seat again. I knew we had another fifteen minutes left of the trip but I didn't want to wake Bella. Much to my delight, we stayed in that position comfortably and quietly.

BPOV

"Come on love birds, we're here!" Emmett's booming voice woke me from my peaceful slumber. I froze when I realized whose arms I was lying in at the moment. I turned my head up to see a tired looking Edward. I smiled sheepishly and apologized with red cheeks.

"It's fine, you looked like you were dead the whole car ride. I actually considered checking your pulse." I rolled my eyes at him but silently thanked the heavens that I didn't sleep talk.

We got out of the car and I stretched my body out and I could finally feel my legs again. I yawned once and grabbed my bag before starting to follow the rest of the group who knew where we're going. The six of us decided to go for a day to a nearby town that apparently had the best shops and restaurants. They usually only went there once a month or so because of the long drive.

We started off with going into different shops, of course. They had a billion stores and Alice and Rose wanted to go into everyone of them. "What do you guys usually do for this part of the day?" I asked the guys when we were dragged into another store.

"Just follow them."

"Yeah, otherwise we'd have to face their wrath."

Edward looked at his friends before answering. "You guys just go because you're scared of you're girlfriends."

"And you only go because you have no other friends and just follow us." Emmett said.

Jasper spoke up. "Since you two have freedom why don't you do something better than shop around here?"

Edward and I looked at each other, we made a mutual agreement silently. "That's so not fair." Emmett told us.

We shrugged and made fun of him. "Want to go?" Edward asked me. I nodded and we walked up with a quick goodbye to rest of them

"So what else is there to do around here?" I questioned once we left the guys.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not much, actually. Just walk around and enjoy the surroundings."

I nodded and did as he said. It was very beautiful. The atmosphere was really cool and there was some cool murals and little alleyways to go into as well. The streets were packed and they was a good amount of people walking on the sidewalk. When we passed by a little park there was a coffee shop right next to it. Edward offered to get some for us.

"I'll be right back," he said before turning into the small café. I leaned against a wall that overlooked the park. I dazed off as I observed the scene in front of me and it took me by surprise when someone came up to me and started talking.

What surprised me even more was that the guy now standing close to me, leaning on the same wall was not Edward. I barely had enough time to process the fact that he was talking to me until I realized I should answer him. "Do you go to Port Angeles High School?"

"No," I shook my head.

"No wonder. I've never seen you around." I just nodded awkwardly. "Since you're here now, do you want to maybe go get something to eat?"

Was he really trying to hit on me? He doesn't even know me. "Um, uh - no, thanks."

"How about some coffee?"

"No, sorry, I should really be getting back to my friends..."

He spoke again. "Come on, just one drink. I promise I'll make good use of your time."

This guy was really starting to annoy me. Can't he take a hint? I opened my mouth to speak again but stopped when a familiar body made a presence. "Bella? Jacob?"

I was completely surprised when Edward identified the guy talking to me and he did the same for Edward. "Cullen. Long time, no see." His voice was not friendly.

"You always find a way to get into my business." Jacob just smirked in response. "Just leave her alone, okay?" Edward was clearly annoyed.

He held his hands on in mock surrender. "Didn't mean to steal your girlfriend from you. Though, now that I know, she's even more tempting."

I made a face of disgust at him while Edward glared at him. "Flirting with the rival isn't going to get you anywhere, just so you know."

He made a face at Edward. "You better be careful there with that one. Watch out this season, Cullen." he retorted.

"Don't worry about me, Black. Good luck to your team - you're going to need it." Edward said made a motion to follow him as he lead me around Jacob and through another pathway in the park.

He sighed loudly. "Sorry about that, Bella. Guys from Port Angeles can be stupid."

"Who was that?"

"Jacob Black. He's the captain of the baseball team of our rival school, Port Angeles High. We're always the last two teams at the end of the season, though unfortunately, they usually win. We don't really get along."

"Yeah, I could tell."

He smiled sheepishly, "Oh, here's your coffee." He handed me a warm cup, the warmth felt so good against my hands I automatically took a large sip, not realizing how hot it was.

"Ah!," I exclaimed as the liquid burnt my tongue and swan down my throat.

Edward shook his head, chuckling. "Only you would hurt yourself drinking coffee."

I rolled my eyes at him but we both knew it was true. Our conversation flowed easily as we walked though the park before we headed back to our other friends. We met up with them in a store just two blocks away from the coffee shop. Alice and Rose already had bags in their hands. "What did you guys buy?"

They quickly opened their bags to give me a peek of their purchases. "Ooh, nice." Rose nodded before taking my coffee out of my hands and getting a sip. Alice's eyes danced when she saw the coffee, her favorite thing in the world, she too took a large gulp. I rolled my eyes at my friends just before I heard Edward replaying the encounter with Jacob to Emmett and Jasper.

"I hate that guy," Emmett mumbled.

Jasper agreed, "We better win this year and break that stupid curse."

After loitering around the streets of Port Angeles until the sun went down, we got dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Laughing at Emmett and Rosalie competing on which one of them could balance a spoon on their nose the longest, the waitress came by to take our order. The redheaded girl looked all too happy to be working. Though I especially noticed that when Edward ordered his meal her huge smile got impossibly larger. Disgusting.

"And what can I get for you?" she asked me.

"Cheeseburger with no onions," I replied and handed her the menu without sparing a glance at her. After she walked away I got up to go to the bathroom and Rose and Alice were too eager to come with me.

I pushed the door open and went over to wash my hands. They stood on either side of me, "what?" I asked, completely confused.

"Bella, we're your best friends, am I right?" Alice questioned me.

"Um, yeah," I motioned her to continue.

"Meaning you trust us," Rosalie now spoke.

I opened my mouth to answer but Alice and Rose just kept taking turns to speak.

"And you would tell us things that you wouldn't tell others."

"Things that you know we'd value and keep secret."

"Things like your personal life."

"Things like family, school, _boys_."

"Things that are tall, play baseball and share my DNA," Alice complied.

Now I understood what they were getting at. I rolled my eyes, "You two are ridiculous. There is nothing going on between Edward and I." They gave me an incredulous look. I sighed, "What? There really isn't."

"Let me rephrase the question. Would you like for there to be something going on between you and Edward?"

"We're just friends," though my blush gave away my thoughts.

Rosalie shook her head, "Swan, tell us the truth." And with that, I gave in. My thoughts about us being more than friends and my swooning over his good looks just poured out of my mouth. I surprised even myself I was saying this stuff aloud.

Their reactions were as expected; excited, smug, and mischievous.

"Finally the time has come," Alice smirked. "Operation: Get-Bella-With-Edward has begun."

"No. No plans, schemes, or 'operations.'"

They groaned, "But Bella, I have the perfect idea-"

I interrupted them, "If it was meant to be, it will happen. On it's own." Alice and Rose seemed to agree with me though I could tell they were a little disappointed. "Operation: Get-Bella-With-Edward? Really now, what are you, twelve?"

They laughed a little and I proceeded to go on about their lameness before heading out to finish our day expedition.

Thanks to all of you (if there is any of you even reading this) for sticking with me. I know I've been slow, but I really do hope to speed everything up starting now. So just bare with me, please and thanks(:

btdubs: review!(:


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